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This house would raise the legal driving age to 18
The age at which you can legally drive varies from country to country1, but in many places it is lower than 18. In some American states it is 15 or younger. Usually you are allowed to take a driving test a year or more before you can vote or drink alcohol. As young drivers are the ones most likely to have accidents2, from time to time there are calls to raise the driving age. In the past two years lawmakers in the US states of Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Massachusetts have debated raising their driving age3, although these attempts are unlikely to change anything in the foreseeable future. The British government has also recently considered lifting the driving age in the UK from 17 to 184, although it seems unlikely to go ahead with this change.
This topic assumes that the age should be raised to 18, but the arguments will still work for any number higher than the present legal driving age in your state. Many European countries already have a driving age of 18, so they might debate raising it to 21. Most of the arguments will also work for a debate on limiting how young people can drive.
1List of variations in legal driving age:
2Safe Roads Partnership, "Young and Newly Qualified Drivers"
4BBC News article “Driving age ‘must increase to 18”, 19 July 2007
Bibliography
All websites visited 29/08/11
List of variations in legal driving age:
Statistics for young drivers:
Article "Bid To Raise Driving Age Is Roiling Rural Georgia", David Firestone in The New York Times, 14 March 2001:
BBC News article "Driving age 'must increase to 18", 19 July 2007:
BBC Newsbeat article "Newly qualified drivers 'should be banned at night", 21 September 2010:
BBC News article "Is driving more dangerous than flying through ash?", 21 April 2010:
Statistics for USA young driver fatalities 2008:
Information on the "Pass Plus" scheme (UK):
Information on the "Graduate Driver License" program (USA):
Comparison of Swedish and USA traffic safety:
Legal voting age by country:
Legal drinking age by country:
Legal smoking age by country:
Information on "Cell phone and texting laws", August 2011:
Statistics for teen usage of cell phones while driving:
Article "Texting while driving: One of the most dangerous habits of teen drivers" on www.drivingmba.com, 16 November 2010:
BBC News article "Newry students invent gadget to stop dialling drivers", 13 January 2011:
Statement of the main aims of the Traffic Unit of the Metropolitan Police:
Article "Budget cuts hit police with more than 2000 officers forced to retire", Alan Travis in The Guardian, 29 March 2011:
BBC News article "Extra traffic police needed
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