When you look at the statistics, it quickly becomes clear that teenagers are some of the most dangerous drivers. They have the highest fatal accident rate out of any age group. Even when teens themselves survive these accidents, drivers and passengers in other cars may be severely or even fatally injured.
One solution to this problem that people sometimes propose is increasing the driving age. Perhaps people are simply not ready to drive at 16, but they would be better equipped at 18 or 21. Would this actually make a difference?
The problem with inexperience
It is unlikely that this would cause a dramatic decrease in young drivers causing car accidents. The reason is that many of these crashes involving drivers from 16 to 19 are due to their inexperience. As they spend more time on the road, their fatal accident rates decline – dropping notably in their early 20s.
Even if the driving age was increased to 21, this would just delay when these drivers gained experience. It would prevent car accidents by teenagers, but there would likely be a spike in fatal accidents caused by inexperienced drivers from 20 to 23. Gaining that experience is really what makes most of the difference, not just the age of the driver. And experience always takes time.
Seeking financial compensation
This is one of the reasons that there is always an inherent risk when sharing the road with other drivers. Another driver could cause a serious accident. Those who have been injured or lost a loved one in an accident need to know how to seek financial compensation for medical bills and other costs.