Many teens in the United States look forward to driving. When teenagers get behind the wheel they don’t know the danger they are getting themselves in. Car accidents are the leading cause of accidental death according to statistics. In my opinion I believe that teenagers should be well educated before the can be allowed to drive. If teens get a good education on driving, then more deaths and car accidents can be prevented.

Teens look forward to their sixteenth birthday like a dog waiting for its owner to give it a big juice bone. They look forward to their sixteen birthday because they want to be able to transport themselves and their friends. They also want freedom and independence. Many parents just let the schools educate their teens about driving; they do not tell them the consequences of driving unsafely. Parents also do not tell their teens about the fact that cars are a privilege not a toy (quote from Mrs. Wilson). As said by RMIIA, 16-year-olds are more three times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than the average of all drivers. The better student drivers educated the more responsible they will become when they are driving.

Parents should also be more careful with the choices they make. More teens are given permission by their parents to drive without a driver’s license. In 2006, more than twenty percent of fourteen through eighteen year olds were involved in fatal car crashes, and they did not own a driver’s license (reported by the national fatality data). The age of a teenager does not matter, what matters is the fact that they have a valid driver’s license.

Teenagers have a life, every human being has one. When teens turn sixteen they should have the ability to drive a car without a babysitter in the passenger’s seat. When a minor is going to high school, there are many extra curricular activities. Shyla W., (a student from FHS) plays softball for the school’s team but she sometimes is not able to attend practice because her guardians are not able to take her. “I think teens should be able to drive because they need to be able to take themselves to necessary and important places.” She says. Many colleges and universities require a student to have extra curricular activities on their transcripts. Sports and clubs are always after school and many people do not play a sport because they do not have a way to attend. Teen driving benefits school because students would be able to attend to more school activities and participate more.

Many parents are busy people, and sometimes they are not able to take their children to the places they want or need to go. Parents sometimes think that handing the keys to an unlicensed teenager is their only options they have solve the problem, but that in not the best solution. Parents who have this problem should first educate the minor and let them earn their driver’s license. As said by the CDC “In 2005, half of teen deaths from motor vehicle crashes occurred between 3 p.m. and midnight and 54% occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.” Most teens when they are allowed use the cars during these times and more crashes occur. Letting teens drive unsupervised may lead to unwanted problems in the future. Problems that may not just hurt the driver’s family, but also other families who have no fault at all. More than 7% of the time the opposite driver (not teen) end up dieing because of car accidents- Death Statistics Tables. For the safety of everybody keep unlicensed drivers off the roads.