Should the Driving Age Be Raised to 21?

In Australia, drivers under the age of 21 have the highest rate of road accidents compared to any other age group. These accidents are amongst the principal causes of horrific injuries and death in today's youth. South Australian drivers are increasingly becoming prone to injury due to thousands of accidents that occur every year. The highest death rates are within the 16-25 age group range. Research shows that perception skills are important for safe driving and that drivers with poor perception skills usually have more crashes to the younger age group of drivers. Raising the driving age will reduce the number of injuries on the roads.

Young drivers in Australia are able to receive their learner's permit at the age of just 16. They are given the opportunity to gain experience driving on roads and to successfully complete a mandatory 50 hours, including 10 night hours followed by a final drive to obtain a provisional license. Is this enough to eradicate the dangerous driving that occurs on Australian roads? Many youths who have their license can be scientifically suggested that their brains have not fully matured yet, this making them more prone to misfortunes, peer pressure, distraction, judgement and more inclined to engage in risk-taking when behind the wheel. Younger male drivers particularly, are also more likely to misjudge speed and in difficult conditions. There are many explanations as to why the Australian government are considering doing raising the designated age from 16 to 21.

If the age were to be raised to 21, many issues would be brought up within the Australian society and many actions would be taken from the general public. Society sees the age of 21 as officially an adult; making this the perfect age to drive a vehicle. According to the views of teenagers, school and workplaces are two of the main features that they are using a car and if it were raised, these privileges to drive would be taken away. At the mature age of 21, the brain is much more settled than at the age of 16. Even though the younger teenager can obtain a permit to drive at such a young age, they do not require much experience to be given a license, which can be proved to lead to fatal car accidents. There have been recent surveys from South Australian newspapers that show there is more than a third of SA's population want to see the driving age to be higher.

Another matter is Responsibility. This is a key feature that has a lot to do with driving. If a driver is not responsible it can affect close friends and family, and also put the lives of other drivers in jeopardy as well. If the driver is 21, he/she are not a student therefore no peer pressure would be offered and maturity levels would be higher, because of workplaces and have a responsible position on the road. At 21 it is mostly used for these purposes instead of leisure reasons; this time being which most car accidents occur. Problems with the younger drivers are