Teen Drivers???

Here in Atlanta we have had more teenage drivers killed due to lack of experience and probably just sheer lack of knowledge about how to handle the 4,000 pound projectiles (they were teenagers after all). Should the driver's license age be changed?

I think that the legal driving age should be changed to 18 and the license should only be earned after the kid has one year experience driving with an adult with a license, as well as after taking a year long course that should teach the learning drivers more in depth "lessons of the road" (i.e, how to handle different driving conditions, like weather or escape maneuvers, etc.).

There is really no need for 16 year olds to be driving - most kids are driving for only a couple reasons: (a) for a job - to pay for their car; or (b) to get to after school activities - of which may be an inconvenience to busy parents.

According to CBS News and an article written by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics, December 2006; pp. 2570-2581. News release, American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Highway crashes are the top cause of death for 16- to 20-year-olds, killing about 5,500 and injuring 450,000 each year, according to the AAP. The teen accident rate is more than four times that of people age 30 to 69. Young teens have the highest crash rates; two-thirds of teens who die from accidents are male, the AAP notes."

Just to put the number of teenage deaths per year in perspective - there have been 3,147 Americans killed in the war against fundamentalist Islam in the last 4 years. Do we have a problem with our priorities? We want the soldiers (who volunteered for service) to come home because of the number of deaths, but we continue to allow teenagers to drive without any hesitation.

Weird.