16 still too young to drive

I've been called a "buzzkill", "party pooper" and "killjoy" for arguing in favour of raising the driving age. I've heard the complaints of those who just missed the cut-off date when the age was raised to 16, and I sympathise.

I've fantasised myself about cruising down the highway, hair fluttering behind me and singing along to the radio in my old-school convertible a la Teenage Dream.

But, to be frank, I believe the pros of raising the age outweigh the cons.

All you need to do is look at the facts. The Ministry of Transport reports that in 2009 drivers aged 15-24 were involved in 112 fatal traffic crashes, 755 serious injury crashes and 3617 minor injury crashes.

The total social cost of the crashes in which 15-24-year-old drivers were at fault was $1.3 billion. This is over a third of the social cost associated with all injury crashes.

Although teenagers generally have good reflexes, research shows the part of the brain that deals with decision-making and controlling impulsive behaviour doesn't develop for most people until age 25. This is vital, as poor judgment leads to accidents that could have been prevented.

Teenagers are also more likely to take risks with their friends looking on, as opposed to being in a car by themselves. This poor judgment only increases the chances of danger. Whatever happened to the phrase "better safe than sorry"?

I can understand that some children may not have parents who are willing to drive them everywhere. However, why waste petrol and damage the planet when it is possible to catch a bus? It is better for the planet and parents' wallets.

"But it gives us independence, responsibility and the freedom to make our own decisions."

To be honest, it scares me that some of the teenagers I know are driving. New Zealand is one of the rare countries to have a driving age below 18. While I can see that some teenagers have the emotional maturity of adult twice their age, factors that are not so obvious (such as drug use, amount of sleep and time awake) come into play that can cloud judgment and lead to impulsive decisions ending in fatality.

We are complaining about the rates of teenage suicide, drug use and crimes, but we don't look at the effects of deaths on our roads.

Safeteendriver.co.nz reports that drivers aged 15-24 who have been awake for 17 hours or longer have the driving ability of a drunk driver, and those who sleep less than eight hours a night have a third greater risk of crashing than those who sleep eight or more. The Ministry of Transport's statistics from 2009 state that 39 per cent of crashes involving people aged 15-19 are due to the impact of drugs or alcohol.

Would you entrust someone else's life in your naive hands?

Ana Rancic, Year 10, Pinehurst School