The legal driving age in the United States is typically 16. Drivers do have to go through training and practice before this point, but they can take a test and get their license at 16.
However, critics point out that teenagers have the highest accident rate of any age group when looking at fatal crashes. They say that this means it’s clear that teens are not ready to drive safely. The disproportionate crash rate puts everyone else at risk.
On the surface, it may seem like a good solution would be to move the driving age up. If it was 21, for example, then there simply wouldn’t be any legal teenage drivers. Since this is the most dangerous age group, wouldn’t that make everyone safer?
Why it wouldn’t work
There are some arguments in favor of this, but it’s unlikely that it would actually change the accident rates that much.
The reason is that teen drivers are inexperienced, and that’s why they cause accidents. Driving is difficult; it is a complex skill, and it takes time and practice to master. This is why drivers in their early 20s have much lower crash rates—they’ve already been driving for five or more years, so their experience keeps them safe.
But in this light, if the driving age was increased to 21, this would just mean that the drivers from 21 to 24 would be the least experienced. It’s likely that this age bracket would see a significant increase in serious accidents.
Seeking compensation
Unfortunately, this means that older drivers will always face risks from the younger and less experienced drivers on the road with them. If you have suffered serious injuries in an accident, you need to know how to seek financial compensation for medical bills and much more.
