728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Driving › Safety First

Safety First

Trends in Teen Driving

By Kelly Burgess

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  

Statistics such as these have led to a variety of legislative efforts to reduce motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries to teens, including raising the minimum driving age, putting stricter controls on who can be in the car with the teen and early curfews for teen drivers. But there is a lot of opposition to making obtaining a driver's license more difficult for teens – often from parents who are tired of driving their teens around to after-school activities. And there are some compelling arguments against raising the driving age to 18, as some states are rumored to be considering. Since children legally become adults at age 18, there would be absolutely no restrictions on their driving freedom from the first moment they got their license. This would give parents no legal leverage to control their children's driving hours or behavior.

Lindsay Reigel, 17, is president of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) at her high school in Ashburn, Va. She thinks raising the drivin age will create more problems than it solves. "I'm graduating at age 17, and I will have at least a year of driving under my parents' rules and supervision before I go to college," she says. "If they had upped the driving age to 18, I wouldn't have been eligible to get my license until I was away from home. How would I have learned how to drive responsibly without my parents around?"

Teach a Woman to Drive
Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  


Want to see more?