Fourteen and eight months is too young for teenagers to start taking driver’s education. The State of Michigan’s website has a page dedicated to the dangers of teen driving leading to accidents, but it allows the driver’s education age to remain the same. On that page it states that “motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S.”

The requirements to successfully complete Segment 1 of driver’s education are 24 hours in the classroom, along with an additional six hours on the road with an instructor and four hours of observing another driver; that is not nearly enough practice to allow a child to receive their permit. Segment 2 is even worse. A student must have their permit for three months and drive 30 hours with a parent. The class itself is only three days, a total of six hours, and all students do is just watch videos about car accidents.

According to the State of Michigan’s statistics, drivers who are under the age of 21, more specifically 16 and 17 year olds, have the highest crash rates compared to other age groups. The Secretary of State has five reasons to explain these statistics: driving at night, drinking alcohol, having passengers in the car, not wearing a seatbelt and texting while driving. The most common reason teenagers get into car accidents is from simply not having enough experience. These accidents typically happen during the first six months of a teen getting his or her license while driving alone.

During those first six months, teen drivers are vulnerable to becoming easily distracted. Accidents are more likely to occur for new drivers because they fail to search the area for hazards. For example, while the driver could be turning left, he or she might not see that there is a pedestrian walking across the road.

Having more than one distracting passenger in the car can also be as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. Many statistics have proven that the likelihood of accidents increase with every passenger added to the car. Peer pressure does play a role in this. The passenger can influence the driver to make risky choices as well as the possibility of the driver trying to show off.

Driving at night is hard to do even for adults, so throw an inexperienced, nervous and fairly new driver into that mix, and the outcome is most likely a disaster.

The State of Michigan added not wearing a seatbelt to their list because teenagers are more likely to drive without it.  Not wearing a seatbelt does not increase the risk of causing an accident, but it does increase the chance of getting severely injured if an accident were to occur. That seatbelt is there to protect you. It keeps you from flying through the windshield in an accident. Wearing it will save your life.

When you hear about drunk driving on the news, most likely an adult comes to mind. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4.6-8.9 percent of 16 year olds admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol. The CDC also states that a teen driver is 17 times more likely to get into an accident if their blood alcohol content is .08 percent, which is just on the line of the legal blood alcohol content in Michigan.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) stated on their website that 1,900 people are killed in car crashes every year due to underage drinking and driving. Not every teen drinks, and not all of those that do drive afterward, but it is still a risk that should not be taken.

Lastly, the State of Michigan’s final circumstance, texting while driving. Now this one isn’t just for teens, but it is the number one cause of car accidents in general. According to Huffington Post, nine people are killed every day because of people using their phones while driving. In 2013, there were 341,000 accidents caused by texting and driving. When a driver uses their phone, they are four times more likely to cause an accident.

A driver can safely take his or her eyes off the road for only two seconds. It takes an average of five seconds to send a text, according to Huffington Post. Many things can happen on the road in five seconds.

Since young drivers make these mistakes, the age to take drivers education should be raised to 15 years old. Parents should also prepare their teenagers to drive safely and confidently to decrease the chance of accidents from happening.