Some people feel raising the age limit required for obtaining a drivers licence

can enhance road safety. Would this be an effective strategy in your country?

The age at which a person is legally able to drive is a very important

consideration. In my home country of Canada, successful test takers can drive
independently at the age of 16, an age that I feel is too young. I thus agree that
raising the driving age limit in my country would enhance road safety. To prove
this, I will look at a drivers maturity and the motivators behind their decision to
drive.

Firstly, the experimental nature of the adolescent growth stage makes it a

dangerous time at which to drive. Adolescent men, for example, are scientifically
reported to have heightened levels of aggression, a trait that statistically
diminishes by the time they are 20 years old. Thus, removing people prone to
these more immature emotions can clearly have real ramifications on the overall
safety of driving in Canada. Increasing the driving age should therefore be
supported.

This position is further exemplified when looking at motivators behind a persons

decision to drive. For 16 year olds in Canada, these motivators tend to be social
in nature, such as using a car to meet friends. Although many would argue this is
a sign of healthy social development in a human being, it is a driving arrangement
that sets up scenarios that can be very distracting for an inexperienced driver. In
Canada, for example, traffic accidents are reportedly higher among 16 to 18 year
olds travelling in cars with several passengers. Because motivators become less
social as a person enters their twenties, these statistics suggest Canadian roads
would be safer were the age limit of drivers raised and their motivations for
driving evolved.

As the above shows, raising the age at which a person can drive would increase
the safety of roads in my country. It is my hope that Canada does indeed take
steps to put this new restriction on driving in place.