Dumb question. Of course raising the age at which people are allowed drive to 17 or 18 would save lives. Raising it to 25 would save more lives. Eliminating drivers altogether would save a bunch of lives. Who thinks up these questions, anyway?

I agree, of course reducing the number of drivers on the road will save lives, but I think the laws are pretty good right now for teens, at least in Oregon. 16 year olds cannot have another under 18 year old passenger in their car for 6 months (unless there is an 18 or above in the vehicle). I think more mandatory driving courses in schools that show those awful no seatbelt accidents they show you in seatbelt school...Films like that are the best and most impressionable forms of eduacation that kids will learn and take something away from. Also show teens fatal teen accident pictures and talk about how they occured and how they can be avoided. That is the best education for our kids. But raising the driving age burdens parents who are tired of driving their kids around and want them a bit more independant before going out on their own at 18.

There are plenty of 16 year olds that are able to drive safely. Really. Not all, but plenty. Good driving consists of several things. Avoiding distractions, paying attention, and experience. If the driving age is raised to 18, then I expect to see a lot of 18 year olds with little experience. And that means sending 18 year olds off to college without driving experience or they'll be getting jobs where they have to commute possibly with little driving experience.
I think the answer is to leave it at 16, but ensure we instill the seriousness of being responsible drivers.
Don't drink, let the cell phone call go to voicemail, ensure your friends in the car act like the grown ups they're about to be, and pay attention to the road. If you follow those rules, there's a pretty good chance you (and the rest of us) will be just fine.

I think that raising the driving age to 17 or 18 is just fine and smart! As for the burden on parents, if you are willing to let your child drive at 16, than your child can surely take public transportation! For those worried about experience, I think it would also be smart to allow a 16 year old to get their permit at 16 but not be licensed until 18. That way the parents can take their time in teaching thier child how to drive and the precautions they need to take.

I also think every new driver should take a mandatory class (even if its just a one day one time thing) where they discuss seatbelt laws, drunk driving, etc. Showing images of past fatal accidents and other things of major impact on young minds will help our young drivers learn visually as well...not just by reading a small text book on laws that makes the written test easy to pass.

Once again the old prohibition philosophy - banning is safer than engaging. I think the vast majority of teen drivers are safe enough and the one's who aren't are probably known to their parents and their schools. Maybe some kind of objective criteria for assessing a teen's emotional preparedness to drive can be developed and implemented, (probably already is) but I think raising the driving age is swinging too big a hammer. I work in an industry where investigating auto accidents is a primary activity and I see some involving teen drivers. The one's I do see involve a kid who was distracted by fiddling with the "radio," dialing the cell phone or no-brainer #1 - texting while driving, and that stuff is solvable without banning them from cars and also I think significantly present in accidents caused by adults as well. I chewed up a fence or two winter driving as a teen, nobody was ever hurt, the fences were fixed and I learned from each mistake. Dealing with an amateur driver at 21 is probably just as unpredictable as dealing with an amateur driver at 16. Catch them drinking & driving or racing - then ban them until 21 and do it with lots of notice of the consequences beforehand. Teens understand that choices have consequences every bit as much as adults, and that's my penney's worth.

I think we should jus make it against the law for children. Think of all the volumes of laws we would get to recycle. But then think of all the jobs that would be lost. Juvenile Services would then have to be Adult Services then there would bee more laws against being adults. then we would have to outlaw adults. Now just where do responsable people draw the line? Makes you wonder??????

I believe that raising age to 17 or 18 is the proper thing to do. I am from Europe and our driving age is 18 which is reasonable rather than 15. Kids during their teen years fear less making them much more dangerous to others as well as to themselves.
And what regards the burden on the parents,I believe that kids can take public transportation, ride a bike or just walk. This is a normal situation anywhere else in the world.

It would have to be conditional. There are a large number of teens who are capable of being good drivers.
The first condition would have to be grades!
Rather than setting the age at 18, base it on a High School diploma. Once they have it, they can drive. If they can maintain a 3.0 average for at least one year in High School, they can get their license as early as age 16.
If their GPA drops below 3.0. Their license is automatically suspended!

Let teens drive... it's called Natural Selection

I believe that raising the age limit for teenage driving to 17 or 18 is reasonable. I have seen too many teens driving while texting or talking on the phone and that combined with being inexperienced is a deadly combination. I suggest that if they need their own transportation, that requires their eyes and both hands to be used at all times, they should be allowed to have a scooter at age 16 to get to and from work etc.. Of course they would need the required traffic safety training and testing.

While this idea could potentially save some lives, i believe that it would not be one worth enforcing. teen drivers are responsible for only ten percent of traffic accidents, in comparison to older drivers who are responsible for the other ninety percent of traffic accidents. perhaps we should focus less on teen drivers and more on older drivers who have seemingly forgotten how to drive. while i understand that its a parents prerogative to protect the children, the problems caused by raising the age limit would easily outweigh its benefits. first, it will inconvenience not only students and parents by forcing the parents to take time out of their days to drop off and pick up students. the bus is not always an option, when i was in school i would of had to walk 3 miles to get to the nearest bus stop in order to get to school. if my parent's drove me to school i would be stuck there for nearly two hours before classes started. this would not only inconvenience students, it would create issues for parents who would be unable to pick their children up because of work. second, the majority of teenagers have a job by the age of sixteen, many of which require them to drive. this would create serious problems for many young adults attempting to support themselves. third of all, the whole issue of making a big deal out of the age at which you can get your license is simply an attempt to distract people from the mistakes made by countless older drivers who have forgotten how to drive. almost everyday, i see accidents caused by older, supposedly more experienced drivers. the majority of people that seem to be pulled over for speeding appear to be in their late twenties or early thirties. i am simply stating what i have seen, since i drive between olympia to seattle on an almost daily basis. perhaps it would be better to retest older drivers. perhaps people should have to retest every ten years in order to keep their license. this is simply my opinion on the matter. i am not denying that about twenty percent of teen drivers probably shouldnt be on the road. but the majority of teenage drivers are good, safe, and responsible drivers, perhaps, we should focus on that twenty percent instead of discriminating against an entire group just because of their age.

I believe raising the driving age is a good thing.
With obesity in children and teens on the rise,
perhaps delaying the time spent behind the wheel
not burning calories can be better spent on a
bicycle working up a sweat and burning calories
and those extra pounds off.
A side benefit would be that drivers would gain
a better respect for cyclists and learn to share
the road.

how about getting old people off the road, ive had many more close-calls with them.

i do think the 'drivers permit' phase needs to be a little longer so they have more experience behind the wheel before taking on the road by themselves.

Of course raising the driving age would reduce teen accidents ... they won't be driving!!

It makes no difference how old an inexperienced driver is, the statistics will just move up to that age group. Teach your child to drive BEFORE they get their permit/license. Narrate while you drive, let them start the car. The more experience a driver has in as many situations as possible, the safer that driver will be.

There is no perfect solution, but this is DEFINITELY not it!!

i agree it should be older, i had a lot of friends die or come close to it when i was in high school in the 80's. if we raised it till 18 maybe they wiould consentrait more on the right things too.

It could save lives, but we don't really know that. The news didn't even state how many of those deaths aren't even the teenager's fault. Half of them could have been killed by some other drunk driver for all we know. Also, being a 16 year old driver is where you get experiance. If you make people start driving at 18, they're gonna to have no more experiance than a 16 year old. Same goes for however old you get. If you don't drive, you don't get experiance. 16 is a great driving age, so leave it there. I'm 17 myself, so this wouldn't even affect me, but I'm just stating an opinion. People are still gonna die driving, no matter what we do.

I meant to say "going to" not "gonna to" in my last post. I also agree with Drew. Senior citizens are more "dangerous" than teens. Teens can see, hear, and react faster than seniors. I myself have had many more close calls from seniors than from teens. Look at them before you look at us.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) as well as hidden Autism Spectrum Disorders among kids today are unbridled.

I see it daily in my travels on the road.

The art of driving a 3500 pound + vehicle is secondary to the cell phone AND text messaging wonderment for these children.

The children who are using these toys always seem to be smiling and laughing while they are attempting to drive their cars.

Yes, I have seen MANY adults (mostly women, sorry)who are intent on having their visible laughs on their cell phones while driving.

Me ?

I had a cellular phone from 1998-2003 for a small business I operated.

Got rid of the service and returned to education !!

Withing the past two decades a significant increase in children identified with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders. Add to this are the increasing medical evaluations of kids with Autism Spectrum issues contained in a rather broad spectrum of additional hyperactivity / IMPULSE CONTROL manifestations.

I pay good attention to odd driving where I currently live.

Look at the fast and quirky driving around you when you are on the road.

Mostly those little cars / lowered to the ground/ rather loud add-on exhausts, etc.

Finally, I bet you will see a child on a cell phone or even attempting a test message while at the same time driving that vehicle.

I think if we concentrated more on teaching people to drive and not just how to operate a car there would be less fatalities. Eliminate cell phone use in the car and be serious about it. do not make it a secondary offence. Driving is a serious task. distractions should be eliminated. Some people just should not operate a vehicle. If you are not qualified you should not have the privilege.

I think if we concentrated more on teaching people to drive and not just how to operate a car there would be less fatalities. Eliminate cell phone use in the car and be serious about it. do not make it a secondary offence. Driving is a serious task. distractions should be eliminated. Some people just should not operate a vehicle. If you are not qualified you should not have the privilege.

I agree, old drivers are far more dangerous than young ones. Currently, they cannot use their cell phones while driving, that is teens biggest distraction. However, most older drivers have no distractions but are just flat out mentally and physically slower (like being drunk..). Before we attack 16 year olds, lets take a look at the old folks who slow down traffic, run red lights, make wild turns, etc. They cause many more accidents, but they just don't get the publicity as teens do.

I'm sick and tired of the INSURANCE Institute for Highway Safety telling us what we can and can't do. Its those jerks that got our cell phones taken away. Its those jerks that now have 12 year olds in child seats. And its those jerks that will sooner or later have fast food drive-thru's banned. Oh wait, they didn't do anything......Our elected officials did.......
Oh yea, I also like how NWCN, when posting comments about this on their news report, only posted ones supporting the study. Is the IIHS giving them some money too???
This is where our overpriced insurance premiums go to... LOBBYING!!!

Maybe we can alow those that have proven that thay are reasponsible by mantaining a high GPA in school and have keept out of trouble.I cant think of a beter way to display the ability to Drive than that.All kids are diferent.

People need to think logically here. raising the driving age will not do anything. think about it. its not the fact that they are 16 or 17 that they get in accidents. its the fact they are not experienced drivers yet. you could lower the driving age to 12, and it would be the same thing. once you hit 15 the accident toll will go down. its experience people.

I think it is a wonderful idea. It certainly isn't to say that teenagers are the worst drivers, we all fall off the wagon on that issue. However, it is a physiological fact that the brain is not ready for this sort of responsibility-the brain is still building at that stage-literally. Working in emergency medicine, I have plucked quite a few teenagers out of vehicles that never went home...it's just worth a trial and could save lives.

I'm all for raising it to 18, just like it is in most of the rest of the world .. 16 year olds are not capable for driving a car safely.

There is no need for a 16 year old to drive. The 16 yoa driving law is now archaic. Back in the day, it was instituted because of the need for farmers families to have their children helping with the farm work. Also, there were miles and miles to drive to town for supplies. The law was inacted for PRACTICAL reasons. Those reasons no longer apply, and the maturity of most of today's kids is nowhere near those of the past.