Should the legal Driving age be lowered to 14?
No…Driving takes maybe 5-10% physical effort…I mean, come on…A hand on the wheel, foot on the pedal…Anybody can learn how to do that, right?..But driving demands 100% mental focus…The driver is the onboard computer that controls this machine that can weigh between 2000 and 6000 lbs or more and have an engine with between 100 and 300+ horsepower under the hood and is capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph…The key mental ingredients are experience, judgment, discipline and situation awareness. They are a driver’s best bet for being able to die of natural causes at a very old age at home in bed.
No……………….. MARCH 2008 Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15- to 20-year olds. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 3,490 drivers in this age group died in motor vehicle crashes in 2006 and an additional 272,000 were injured. Drivers age 15- to 20-years old accounted for 12.9 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes. Twenty-five percent of teen drivers killed were intoxicated. In 2002 (latest data available) the estimated economic cost of police-reported crashes involving drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 was $40.8 billion, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov ). Among licensed drivers, young people between the ages of 15 and 20 have the highest rate of fatal crashes relative to other age groups, including the elderly. In fact, the risk of
