opinion essay driving age

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Driving — Should Driving Age Be Raised

Should Driving Age Be Raised

• Categories: Driving Driving Age

About this sample

Words: 598 |

Published: Mar 14, 2024

Words: 598 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: Life Social Issues

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 868 words

6 pages / 2951 words

2 pages / 897 words

2 pages / 785 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Driving

When you step into a vehicle, the simple act of fastening your seatbelt can mean the difference between life and death. "Buckle your seatbelts" is not just a reminder; it's a powerful message that emphasizes the critical [...]

Gender diversity is a critical and pressing issue in today's society. With the increasing awareness and acknowledgement of the importance of diversity in workplaces, educational institutions, and communities, the focus on gender [...]

Bad driving habits are a significant issue that plagues our roads and puts countless lives at risk. This essay aims to shed light on the various bad driving habits that exist and the consequences they can have. By understanding [...]

Defensive driving is a crucial skill for any driver to possess. It involves being attentive, cautious, and prepared for unexpected situations on the road. By adopting a defensive driving mindset, individuals can minimize the [...]

Texting and driving has become a prevalent issue in today's society. With the widespread use of smartphones and the constant need to stay connected, many drivers have become dangerously distracted. This essay will argue that [...]

Every year, thousands of lives are lost due to the dangerous combination of drinking and driving. The consequences of this reckless behavior are devastating, not only for the individuals involved but also for their families and [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

16 Pros and Cons of Raising the Driving Age

The ability to earn a driver’s license at the age of 16 is a rite of passage for many families in the United States. With education programs allowing for the provision of an instructional at the age of 15 1/2 in some communities, it is an exciting stage that occurs for teens during the process of growing up.

Although there are several advantages for a family when another driver can run errands, teen drivers are also at a higher risk of accident or injury compared to any other population demographic. There are specific challenges that young people face behind the wheel because of their general lack of experience while driving as well.

One of the ideas proposed to counter the disadvantages of earning a driver’s license at 16 is the raise the driving age. By allowing for a longer period of instruction, the thought is that young people can become individual drivers with better skills because they have had more time to practice with their parents or instructors.

These are the significant pros and cons of raising the driving age.

List of the Pros of Raising the Driving Age

1. It could reduce the number of fatalities that occur on the road with teen drivers. One-third of the deaths in the 13-19 age demographic occur in motor vehicle crashes each year. That’s because young drivers are more likely to take risks when compared to the older generations behind the wheel. Every additional passenger in a vehicle with a 16- or 17-year-old driver increases the risk of a fatality occurring. Drivers who are 16 also have the highest crash rate than any other age. By requiring an instructor to stay with the teen until they got older, it would allow each young driver a chance to develop more positive habits.

2. It would encourage teens to be more physically active. If the driving age were raised from its current limits, then it would encourage young drivers to be physically active when they want to go somewhere outside of the home. Since getting behind the wheel would be off-limits, there could be an increase in walking, cycling, and other exercise-based movements. With up to 1 in 3 teens in some states being overweight or obese, we could encourage our children to work on their health while they also get more time to practice for their eventual driving test.

3. It would provide more opportunities to gain experience. 75% of the serious crashes that involve teen drivers are due to critical errors that happen behind the wheel. There are three common steps that young people miss when they are driving which account for almost half of all crashes: scanning for traffic and hazards to avoid, going too fast for the current conditions, and being distracted by something inside or outside of the vehicle. Since many new drivers exit their instructional period with significant deficits in these skill areas, the extra experience could help to reduce these risks.

4. It could reduce the cost of automotive insurance for families. When teen drivers are added to their parent’s automotive insurance, the price of a policy typically skyrockets. The average annual rate quoted for a teen driver in the United States is $2,267 as of 2017. Even adding one driver to an existing policy adds more than $600 to the cost of coverage on your vehicles. By raising the driving age, parents could show their child is a safe driver and secure some additional discounts to reduce this financial impact.

Even teens who maintain a clean driving record in the 15-19 age demographic face significantly higher auto insurance rates because they are four times more likely to be in a crash when compared to older drivers. Since rates don’t start to decline until the age of 25, some changes to how we issue a license could be beneficial to everyone.

5. It would create consistency throughout the U.S. for driving standards. Depending on the state where you live, there are different standards in place for when teens can obtain a license or permit. Some geographic regions allow teens as young as 14 to receive a learner’s permit. You can sometimes receive a restricted driver’s license at 16, while others offer an unrestricted adult license at that time. The global standard for driving is 18, but in the U.S., what is legal for a teen in one state might illegal in another.

6. It could reduce the amount of congestion on the road. Because there are fewer drivers on the roadways with an increase in the independent driving age, there could be less congestion in some communities. Schools would require fewer parking spots to accommodate student drivers, which means the land could be used for other facilities or needs. Fewer vehicles would also mean lower emissions generated for our transportation needs since students would carpool or take the bus to school, which could give our environment a small boost.

7. It would allow a teen’s physiology to mature. Science shows us that the human brain tends to be underdeveloped and volatile during one’s teenage years. That is one of the reasons why kids in this age demographic tend to be impulsive, emotionally unstable, and fail to predict what the consequences of their actions will be. Because all of these skills are essential to the driving process, raising the driving age would allow for young people to finish physically maturing in a way that will eventually make them better drivers.

8. It gives new drivers an opportunity to work with today’s intuitive assistance technologies. Driving today is a very different experience for young drivers than it was even a generation ago. Teens in the 1990s were still managing all aspects of the driving experience through their personal skill because vehicles came with minimal features. Now 16-year-olds have access to lane assist technology, automatic braking, and some vehicles can even park themselves. By working with these features early, they can begin to master them as they gain more wisdom behind the wheel.

List of the Cons of Raising the Driving Age

1. It doesn’t guarantee an increase in driving skills. Raising the driving age from 16 to any age does not matter if there isn’t something in the societal infrastructure that provides the new driver with experience. Even someone who gets behind the wheel at age 25 without any experience will struggle in the same ways that a 16-year-old does during their first driving sessions. The only way for this disadvantage to disappear is to offer meaningful, affordable lessons in each community that gets people driving since you can’t learn everything in the classroom environment.

2. It makes the family schedule more challenging to manage. When kids reach a certain age, they begin to manage a job while they are going to school. There are athletic practices to attend, often right after school. If a 16-year-old (or 17) is unable to drive because the driving age was raised, then someone else in the family must step up to provide these transportation services. If that isn’t possible, then carpooling with other families would also be necessary. This added pressure could make it challenging to manage the career responsibilities of the parents in a single-guardian home or one where both are working to make ends meet.

3. It communicates a lack of trust in the young drivers. Although young drivers do make significantly more serious mistakes on the road when compared to others, it would be incorrect to say that 16-year-olds are responsible for every major incident. If we decide to raise the driving age because of these statistics, then we are effectively discriminating against these kids since the same process is not followed for older drivers. This disadvantage shows that we do not trust all drivers of a certain age, even though there are many young teens who are very responsible behind the wheel and never in accidents.

4. It would prevent them from learning the responsibilities of vehicle ownership. The idea of getting behind the wheel is very exciting for most new drivers, but the responsibility of vehicle ownership is a necessary part of the experience. Raising the driving age would prevent some teens from learning about the responsibility of budgeting for fuel expenses while traveling to school and work. You would also miss the experience of applying for an insurance policy or getting added to the parent/guardian plan. There are even the lessons on vehicle maintenance to consider that wouldn’t always be taken as seriously since there is less independence.

5. It could place the safety of our children at risk. Although taking 16-year-olds out of the vehicle would potentially reduce the risk of being in an accident, having them take public transportation or carpool just increases the potential for problems in other areas. Teens who walk, take a bicycle, or ride a bus to school have a higher risk of encountering a dangerous person or situation without adult supervision present to protect them. They have limited mobility without the vehicle to get away. In neighborhoods where the crime rate is high, this issue just trades one problem for another.

6. It eliminates a family’s freedom to choose what is necessary for their needs. It is interesting that the right to drive a vehicle creates a passionate debate about safety when teens can receive training to handle firearms. If we raise the driving age, then kids could legally possess long guns and ammunition in the United States, but they wouldn’t be permitted to get behind the wheel. There are approximately 3,000 automotive related deaths among teens in the United States each year, which is about the same number of kids who die from gunshot wounds. How can we debate the merits of taking a driver’s license away if we will not debate the same need for firearm ownership for young people?

7. It would still leave a patchwork of confusing driving laws. Individual states in the U.S. have the power to regulate what the driving age is within their state borders. Even if every legislature decided to add requirements that stopped 16-year-olds from getting behind the wheel, there would still be differences in state laws that teen drivers would encounter that could get them into trouble if they were unaware of the change. The only want to really see all of the advantages of this idea would be for the federal government to institute a nationwide change somehow. Since the structure of the government makes this a challenging outcome, we may never see the full life-saving benefits which we might achieve when implementing this idea.

8. It would create an economic deficit for the insurance industry. The premiums are so high for teen drivers because of the risks that they pose on the road. Although 16-year-old drivers are at a higher risk of being in an accident, not every kid with a driver’s license has this happen to them. About 60% of teen drivers are never in an accident before the age of 20 when they are behind the wheel. The insurance companies can charge inflated premiums because of the collected statistics today that they wouldn’t be able to do tomorrow with a higher age limit. That action could create some economic deficits that might even put some professionals out of a job.

In Conclusion with the Pros and Cons of Raising the Driving Age

Whether you are for an increase in the driving age or you believe that the current structure in society should remain the same, we can all agree on the need for training above everything else. If an untrained driver of any age gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, then that action increases the risks for everyone else on the road. The problem is often a lack of experience more than it is a problem with maturity or awareness.

Although the rate of accidents drops dramatically when comparing a 16-year-old driver to an 18-year-old one, the data suggests that the reason why this occurs is because of the experience that drivers get behind the wheel. Is it possible to gain that wisdom with a restricted license or a permit that requires another driver to be in the vehicle? Or should an unrestricted adult license be the better solution?

The pros and cons of raising the driving age often create more questions than answers. Some states in the U.S. might offer opportunities that are below the global standard, but the question must be answered by legislatures across the country. If you feel this debate is something that could save lives one day, then contact your state legislators to share with them how you feel.

We may earn money when you buy through our links.

Home | Car Safety | Pros and Cons of Raising the Driving Age

Pros and Cons of Raising the Driving Age

SafeWise experts have years of firsthand experience testing the products we recommend. Learn how we test and review . 

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter to get the best safety news, product info, and deals.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Arguments for raising the driving age

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is running a Put the Phone Away or Pay campaign during distracted driving awareness month, which is each April. Though we are all susceptible to distracted driving, the NHTSA says drivers ages 16-24 are distracted by devices at higher rates than others. Here are some data-based arguments to be made in favor of raising the minimum driving age.

1. It could reduce fatal crashes

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety , the rate of fatal crashes per mile driven is nearly 3 times higher for teens aged 16 to 19 as it is for drivers over the age of 20. 1 It is thought that raising the driving age to 18 could help lower the overall rate of fatal crashes.

2. It could make teens more active

It is thought that removing the option to drive will cause more teens to walk, ride bikes, or use other active options to get places. This could cut back on teenage obesity levels by providing more opportunities for exercise.

3. 18-year-olds are more emotionally mature than 16-year-olds

Emotional maturity increases as we age, and it’s thought that 18-year-olds are more likely to make smart decisions without giving in to peer pressure than 16-year-olds.

Arguments against raising the driving age

Here are two common arguments in favor of keeping things the same.

1. It would limit transportation options for teens

Teens these days may not be as physically active as they ought to be, but they're definitely busy. School, extracurricular activities, jobs, and social events usually require some form of transportation.

If the teens can’t drive themselves, the responsibility for transportation often falls to their parents—who may not have the time or ability—or to public transportation, which may not be readily available. And with most American cities being built with drivers in mind, walking or biking long distances may not be practical or safe either.

All in all, fewer transportation options could limit the opportunities kids have for personal growth at a critical age.

2. Teen car crash stats would skew toward the new minimum age

 The argument here is that the higher crash rates for 16- and 17-year-olds may just be because they are new to driving and lack experience. Delaying the start of driving may just delay that learning and shift the crash rates more toward the 18- and 19-year-olds. 

Teaching teens to be safe drivers

Whichever side of the argument you fall on, we encourage you to stay invested in your child’s safety as they learn to drive.

Consider these gadgets to keep them accountable: 

• A vehicle gps tracker
• A dash cam  
• A driving safety app like Life360

Amazon.com list price as of post date. Read full disclaimer .

Compare the top car safety products

Amazon.com price as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read full disclaimer .

Related pages on SafeWise

• How Do I Talk To My Teen About Driver Responsibility and Safety?
• What Are the Dangers of Texting and Driving?
• 5 Tips to Make You Safer on the Road
• Winter Driving Safety Tips
• Car Safety—Frequently Asked Questions

Disclaimers

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.

Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.

Recent Articles

About Contact Press News Deals

Home Security Internet Security Home Safety Family Safety Senior Safety

Car Safety Smart Home Emergency Prep Pet Safety Personal Safety

Subscribe to SafeWise for updates on safety news, product releases, and deals!

Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | How We Rank and Review |

*SafeWise has conducted impartial research to recommend products. This is not a guarantee. Each individual’s unique needs should be considered when deciding on chosen products.

©2024 SafeWise. All rights reserved.

Forgotten password

Please enter the email address that you use to login to TeenInk.com, and we'll email you instructions to reset your password.

• Poetry All Poetry Free Verse Song Lyrics Sonnet Haiku Limerick Ballad
• Fiction All Fiction Action-Adventure Fan Fiction Historical Fiction Realistic Fiction Romance Sci-fi/Fantasy Scripts & Plays Thriller/Mystery All Novels Action-Adventure Fan Fiction Historical Fiction Realistic Fiction Romance Sci-fi/Fantasy Thriller/Mystery Other
• Nonfiction All Nonfiction Bullying Books Academic Author Interviews Celebrity interviews College Articles College Essays Educator of the Year Heroes Interviews Memoir Personal Experience Sports Travel & Culture All Opinions Bullying Current Events / Politics Discrimination Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking Entertainment / Celebrities Environment Love / Relationships Movies / Music / TV Pop Culture / Trends School / College Social Issues / Civics Spirituality / Religion Sports / Hobbies All Hot Topics Bullying Community Service Environment Health Letters to the Editor Pride & Prejudice What Matters
• Reviews All Reviews Hot New Books Book Reviews Music Reviews Movie Reviews TV Show Reviews Video Game Reviews Summer Program Reviews College Reviews
• Art/Photo Art Photo Videos
• Summer Guide Program Links Program Reviews
• College Guide College Links College Reviews College Essays College Articles

Summer Guide

College guide.

• Song Lyrics

All Fiction

• Action-Adventure
• Fan Fiction
• Historical Fiction
• Realistic Fiction
• Sci-fi/Fantasy
• Scripts & Plays
• Thriller/Mystery

All Nonfiction

• Author Interviews
• Celebrity interviews
• College Articles
• College Essays
• Educator of the Year
• Personal Experience
• Travel & Culture

All Opinions

• Current Events / Politics
• Discrimination
• Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
• Entertainment / Celebrities
• Environment
• Love / Relationships
• Movies / Music / TV
• Pop Culture / Trends
• School / College
• Social Issues / Civics
• Spirituality / Religion
• Sports / Hobbies

All Hot Topics

• Community Service
• Letters to the Editor
• Pride & Prejudice
• What Matters

All Reviews

• Hot New Books
• Book Reviews
• Music Reviews
• Movie Reviews
• TV Show Reviews
• Video Game Reviews

Summer Program Reviews

• College Reviews
• Writers Workshop
• Regular Forums
• Program Links
• Program Reviews
• College Links

Lowering the Driving Age: Why We Should.

All over the country, teens are learning how to drive and using this skill in everyday activities. Whether it’s driving to school, work, or running errands, a car always comes in handy to make daily tasks easier for the entire family. When you are still in high school, independence on the road is important. This is one of the many reasons that New York State should consider lowering the driving age. Not only will this grant young Americans to learn the rules of the road earlier, it will teach them responsibility at an early age and they will fully benefit from this alteration in the law. In other states all over America, many teens have the opportunity to get their full license at age 16. In the state of New York, you are only permitted to get your Learners permit at 16. Not only is this an unfair advantage for the teens of New York, it gives New Yorkers less practice, and is unreasonable. Many of the driving laws in the United States vary from state to state, but I think it is important that we see a unity in the rules of the road. If one state allows a full license at age 16, this law should be carried over to the all other states. Of course teens should be thoroughly tested before receiving a driving license of any kind. A suggestion that would help both the law and teens would be to test teens at age 16, but at a high level of expertise. If they could pass this grueling driving exam, they will be granted their full license. This test would include multiple choice, writing, and a road test in which the test-taker must show the state that they have control on the road. The only way to become a better driver is to practice, and study the rules of the road. If you are committed to these things you should be granted the right to drive. If at any point, this licensed teen driver fails to follow the law, a license suspension can be enforced, guaranteeing safe roads. As a teen personally impacted by this law, I do believe that if you can prove that you are a safe driver, you should be granted the right to exercise your abilities on the road. It is obvious that not all teens are ready to drive at 16, which is why a more demanding test would separate those who are ready, from those who are not. It would make life a lot easier for parents, as well as teach responsibility to teens all across the US.

Similar Articles

Join the discussion.

This article has 37 comments.

• Subscribe to Teen Ink magazine
• Submit to Teen Ink
• Find A College
• Find a Summer Program

Share this on

Send to a friend.

Thank you for sharing this page with a friend!

Tell my friends

Choose what to email.

Which of your works would you like to tell your friends about? (These links will automatically appear in your email.)

Send your email

Delete my account, we hate to see you go please note as per our terms and conditions, you agreed that all materials submitted become the property of teen ink. going forward, your work will remain on teenink.com submitted “by anonymous.”, delete this, change anonymous status, send us site feedback.

If you have a suggestion about this website or are experiencing a problem with it, or if you need to report abuse on the site, please let us know. We try to make TeenInk.com the best site it can be, and we take your feedback very seriously. Please note that while we value your input, we cannot respond to every message. Also, if you have a comment about a particular piece of work on this website, please go to the page where that work is displayed and post a comment on it. Thank you!

Pardon Our Dust

Teen Ink is currently undergoing repairs to our image server. In addition to being unable to display images, we cannot currently accept image submissions. All other parts of the website are functioning normally. Please check back to submit your art and photography and to enjoy work from teen artists around the world!

Should we Raise the Legal Driving Age?

The legal driving age has been a constant debate and every few years another log is thrown onto the fire. Should we really raise the legal age to drive? Would it save lives? If so, how high should we raise it? Currently, most states allow for teen drivers to apply for a driver’s permit 6 months after their 15th birthday. Some say this is way too soon.

Teen Driving is Deadly

It’s an unfortunate truth, but auto accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers. A 16-year-old is almost twice as likely to die in a car crash than a 30-year-old. And with new issues such as cell phone driving , texting while driving , and other forms of distracted driving , there is good reason to debate this issue. If we can take the most dangerous drivers off the road, we will not only save the lives of young adults, but we will also make the roadways safer for everyone else.

But Driving is Deadly for all Age Groups

As stated, the leading cause of death for 15 to 24-year-olds is auto accidents . They are the only age group where this is true.

However, car crashes are the leading cause of accidental death in all age groups over 4 years old ! Let’s face it, 15 to 24-year-olds aren’t plagued with disease and sickness like older folks are. So it’s only natural that their leading cause of death will be accidental, and will also be the leading accidental death for nearly every age group. So the stats aren’t exactly cut and dry.

The bottom line is that driving is dangerous for ALL ages, not just teens.

Is it Age or Inexperience? Consider These Points.

I s age really the biggest factor to consider? If we raise the legal driving age to, say, 17 years old, wouldn’t 17-year-olds have the highest accident rate simply due to lack of experience? Many argue that our decision-making skills aren’t fully developed at 16 (the legal age at which a license can actually be obtained). However, this is mostly unsubstantiated evidence and since every person develops differently, a blanketed law is going to punish those who are ready.

I’m a truck driver and see this with new truckers. The legal age to receive a commercial driver’s license is 18 years old, but most don’t obtain their commercial driver’s license until after the age of 21. The most dangerous truck drivers on the road are those with under 2 years of experience, regardless of age . It’s likely that if we simply raise the driving age, we will only shift the “problem drivers” to a higher age bracket.

By the way, be sure to check out these tips for driving around semi trucks

Major Issues with Raising the Legal Driving Age

Aside from young teens hating the idea, do we really want our teens dependent upon us for everything? Do we really want to chauffeur our teens everywhere, up until the point they graduate high school, go off to college, or even join the military?

Getting a driver’s license is a ‘right of passage’ so to speak. We have to “let go” at some point or another. Most teens don’t have access to public transit. We need to let them have some freedom. We need to let them get jobs. We need to let them grow up. And learning to drive is one of the very first steps into adulthood. The world is a dangerous place, but we must “let go” at some point.

A Graduated Solution

Every child and every teenager develops in their own unique way. Instead of forcing the government to make blanketed laws, let’s leave things the way they are and force parents to be parents. Allow mom and dad to decide if their child should drive or not. Who knows a teenager better than the teenagers guardian?

Most states have developed a “graduated licensing” program, which has proven to be successful. This includes more time behind the wheel with a supervised and licensed adult, more classroom time, and zero tolerance policies for traffic violations (a violation could result in further training or even license revocation).

Limiting forms of distracted driving is also a good idea. Some states have a graduated rider program. At first, no passengers are allowed unless it’s an adult. After some experience, they can bring more passengers on board. Zero tolerance cell phone use and driving curfew laws have also proven to be successful.

Traditionally, we have given full license privileges to 16 year olds. Instead of simply raising the driving age, we should continue to implement programs which slowly gives more driving privileges to teens as they prove themselves to be safe, trustworthy drivers. Let’s treat this as an experience issue, not an age issue.

Sometimes Life is Worth the Risks

We all live a fine line in life. Just about everything we do is dangerous. We could slip and fall in the shower, get hit by a car crossing the street, or die while riding a roller coaster. Does that mean we shouldn’t do anything in life that is remotely dangerous? Of course not.

Giving teens the ability to drive will give them invaluable life experiences. Yes, driving is risky. It’s risky no matter our age. But driving is one of those things we just can’t avoid in modern society, and teens should be able to experience the world with the freedom driving brings.

Limiting Risks is the Answer

Instead of blanket driving bans or raising the driving age, we should instead find ways to make the transition into adulthood safer for teens. Graduated driver’s license programs have greatly increased safety for teen drivers, along with safer cars, zero-tolerance laws for alcohol and distracted driving, curfews, better driver’s education , and more parental oversight with safe driving apps, dashcams, and GPS tracking.

Instead of arbitrarily raising the driving age, we should continue to explore and research ways to improve driving safety for teens as well as the overall motoring public.

Is the perfect answer? Not by a long shot. However, simply raising the driving age is not necessarily going to make roads safer. This is a fair compromise between safety, and giving teens the freedom they should be able to experience.

You are using an outdated browser. Upgrade your browser today or install Google Chrome Frame to better experience this site.

Driving age debate: what should be the minimum age requirement?

We discuss if driving age should be increased in countries like the United States or maybe reduced in the areas with currently higher age requirements.

Cars are very practical means of transportation , almost a basic necessity in modern life, but driving them entails a great responsibility. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.24 million people died on the world’s roads in 2010 . Almost 500 thousands in the two most populated countries of the world, China and India, and more than 35.000 in the US.

Many factors influence the rate of car accidents, such as the safety of the roads, cars' quality , traffic legislation (including monitoring and fines), and in particular, drivers' training and experience. Deciding  the minimum age for a person to be able to drive is, t hus, one of the most difficult decision the authorities face. The minimum age requirements varied across  different countries , with some areas of the world allowing teenagers to drive with supervision at 14 and freely at 16, while in other countries you need to be 18 (or even 19 in the case of Gibraltar) to be allowed to drive a car by your own.

Driving age debate

In the countries where the driving age is very low (like the United States ) there is a debate about if it would be better to rise the limit to 18.

• Defenders of this position argue that teenagers are more responsible at 18, and also will get more experience driving with supervision a longer time. Car accidents are one of the main causes of deaths  for teenagers, and rising the age limit could reduce mortality. Another argument in favor of public health is that teenagers with a car have more sedentary behaviors, which can increase obesity.
• However, the opponents of increasing the minimum driving age argue that accidents and mortality are consequences of the lower experience of new drivers, and that rising the age requirement will only postpone these accidents. They also state that being able to drive younger helps teenagers be more independent, and allows them to help their family ( shopping , bringing siblings to or from school, etc.).

In other countries, with a higher age requirement, there is a similar debate, about the possibility of reducing the driving age, with similar arguments.

A maximum age too?

Another question in the driving age debate is looking at the other extreme of the population, and ask if there should be a maximum age for elderly people. Eldery drivers are more prone to accidents. In many countries there are increased controls and medical checks for them, but not everywhere. In these case, the question is not to determine an age after which driving would be forbidden, but whereas the current controls are enough.

What is the driving age in your state or country? Do you think it should be reduced or increased? With previous training and appropriate practice,   what should be the legal age to drive a car on your own without supervision?  

Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Your vote is anonymous. If you change your mind, you can change your vote simply by clicking on another option.

Voting results

New to netivist?

Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties.

Or sign in with your favourite Social Network:

Join the debate

In order to join the debate you must be logged in.

Already have an account on netivist? Just login . New to netivist? Create your account for free .

 Report Abuse and Offensive language

Was there any kind of offensive or inappropriate language used in this comment.

If you feel this user's conduct is unappropriate, please report this comment and our moderaters will review its content and deal with this matter as soon as possible.

NOTE: Your account might be penalized should we not find any wrongdoing by this user. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service .

Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized.

Posting Comment

Your comment is being posted. This might take a few seconds, please wait.

Error Posting Comment

  error.

We are having trouble saving your comment. Please try again .

Most Voted Debates

Start a Debate

Would you like to create a debate and share it with the netivist community? We will help you do it!

Found a technical issue?

Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? Please let us know!

Help netivist

Help netivist continue running free!

Please consider making a small donation today. This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to a wide audience and to keep on introducing new debates and features to improve your experience.

• What is netivist?
• Entertainment
• Top Debates
• Top Campaigns
• Provide Feedback

Follow us on social media:

 Share by Email

There was an error...

Email successfully sent to:

Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free You will not recive any promotional materials from third parties

 Join netivist

Already have a netivist account?

If you already created your netivist account, please log in using the button below.

If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points!

You just leveled up!

Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. Keep up the good work.

Together we can make a difference

Follow us and don't miss out on the latest debates!

Raising the Legal Driving Age Research Paper

Introduction.

In the summer of 2005, a driving accident took the life of sixteen year old Alicia when she was out with her sixteen year old boy friend. What was most shocking was that Alicia was wearing her seatbelt, but when her boy friend lost control of the car and the car rammed into a utility pole, the sixteen year old daughter of Dr. Arturo Betancourt was killed instantly (Stafford). One cannot help but feel that perhaps there is much more to driving regulations than the abiding of speed restrictions, seatbelt obligations and traffic signals. The driver was sixteen year old as was the passenger. In the very same regard, numerous arguments have been made in the debate of whether or not the minimum driving age for teenagers should be increased from sixteen to eighteen.

Common ground

A large number of teenagers agree with the fact that the number of increasing accidents involving teenagers is largely because of the submission to adolescent influences on the part of the teenagers (The Standard Times). In a survey performed by The Standard Times that shall be referred to later on in the paper as well, teenagers tend to consider the driving license as a sign of freedom and a key to a carefree world. They begin to see speed and risk as instruments from which they can derive thrill.

Destabilization

There have been speculations that the origin of the increasing number of teenage casualties has been because of the tendency that teenagers have to accelerate to precarious speeds without using the seat belts. By violating basic rules such as speed limits and driving instructions, teenagers put themselves in positions where their decisions become threats to their own lives.

Cost and Consequence

This motion has also been seconded by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in the United States which has shown a considerable amount of doubt regarding whether or not 16 remains an age suitable enough to allow teenagers to drive (Dawson College). This statement was given by the institute only after extensive research had been carried out on the subject. The minimum driving age has become the subject of debate in Canada in light of recent accident trends pertaining to young drivers in the region. It is estimated that road accidents take away five thousand (5000) teenagers from their parents every year.

Problem/ Thesis

In light of the facts stated above, the thesis statement of this paper is that the minimum driving age should most certainly be raised from sixteen to eighteen years of age in Canada since it is the only remaining option to decrease the increasing number of teenage road accident casualties.

Opposition claim

However, there is criticism that the solution of the problem does not lie in increasing the minimum driving age but in improving the standards of education of driving education. Teenagers are of the opinion that by increasing the minimum driving age from what it is now, the number of problems created will be more than the number of problems solved.

Reason for opposition claim

In a survey performed by The Standard Times, it was observed that teenagers are of the opinion that having attained their driver’s license they have become free of all obligations related to their transport issues (The Standard Times). They begin to consider and rely upon the option of over speeding to carry out strenuous daily schedules.

Transition based on contrast

However, this does not change the fact that road based driving accidents have now reached a point where they are regarded as the number one killer of teenagers. The graduating license system appears to be doing its job in the regulation of deciding who gets to drive and who does not, but it appears that the system requires assistance, in the form of an increase in the minimum age of the people who are allowed to take the test.

Thesis evaluation claim

Just as was discussed in the last report, this report also chose to draw the reader’s attention to violent, rash and irrational nature that youngsters choose to adopt when they are driving unsupervised (Kelly and Nielson). The report states that in times when youngsters are unsupervised, the chances that excessive speed will be complimented by drinking and a desire to drive without seat belts begins to dominate.

Reason for thesis evaluation claim

At this point, we can draw a significant inference that there is another deeper element that causes youngsters to drive precariously. This element is the fact that youngsters choose to regard the vehicle as an object that is meant to provide them a means of entertainment rather than one that is meant to provide them a means of transport. In this perspective, the subjects choose to concentrate more on their personal selves than on the environment in which their vehicle is moving. The strengthening of this perception through peer pressure and the like causes the focus to move from driving the vehicle to using it as an instrument. However, the fact that the changing of the perception does not change the rapidly moving environment around them causes a clash of actions to take place. This clash of actions is when the accident occurs and damage is suffered by more than one party in most cases.

Supporting evidence

However, this is not the only research study that has revealed complications in the current driving license regulation of the system. Another study by Mary Kelly and Norma Nielson has revealed that merely passing the testing procedures that have been put into place for giving licenses are not enough to evaluate precisely whether or not a person can be a responsible driver when on the road. The report evaluated the driving trends of aged drivers as well as young drivers (OECD/ECMT Transport Research Centre, OECD, European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations. Economic Commission for Europe). In relation with younger drivers, the analysts found that there was an element that could not be replaced with practice in the case of teenage drivers. This element was experience . The analysts found that if there was a similarity in the driving accidents in cases of teenage drivers, it was the lack of driving experience that the young drivers had. The report showed that experience allowed drivers to exercise a better understanding of the road signs and serves to allow the drivers to exercise more practical techniques when compared to novice drivers who choose to rely on tips and techniques that they have recently learned of or have only read about before.

The report highlights that novice drivers are able to manage physical and mental tests in controlled driving conditions during driving tests and practices but the complete change in surroundings that they come across when they have to drive on actual terrain puts them into a position to which they have not been exposed to before let alone hold any experience in (Brown, Larson and Saraswati). The report stresses on the point that in times like these, a task as simple as that of changing lanes can become one that can be seriously misjudged and may lead to an otherwise avoidable accident.

Logic behind support

Even though every province in Canada has adopted varying procedural systems to implement a sound system that ensures that only fully trained people are allowed to drive, we can infer from the accident toll that there appears to be a chink in the system that is being overseen by the process that is implemented in the training of drivers.

Needless to say, the move to increase the minimum driving age comes as a revision of a previous decision to allow teenagers to drive at the age of sixteen, but it appears from the casualty counts that the decision has been one that has been taken undue advantage of and the level of sophistication that was expected was not something that can be expected from the mind of a sixteen year old of the modern day world.

Recalling of thesis statement

This brings us back to the thesis statement of the paper about the concern for the fact that the minimum driving age in Canada should be increased if the thousands of lives being lost every year are to be saved.

Should the minimum driving age be increased, it will be a measure that will allow for the purpose of saving lives to be achieved.

The increase in the minimum driving age will allow for teenagers to be kept under adult supervision for the period of their ages that they are most vulnerable to the quips of adolescence and submission to peer pressure.

Negative implications

However, if the minimum driving age is increased and the measure is implemented, we must be wary of the fact that teenagers will not comply with the altered law almost instantly but will have to be taught to do so and that violations of the altered law can be expected for which traffic regulation enforcement agencies should be trained as well.

Prelude in light of consequences

Had the minimum driving age been already increased, countless lives would have been saved. Perhaps had Alicia’s boyfriend chosen to drive the car at a low speed, Alicia’s parents would have had the opportunity to be blessed with the sight of seeing their daughter graduate.

Warrant for conclusion

Therefore, we can conclude from the discussion in the paper that the claim to increase the minimum driving age is indeed well justified and is a measure that should be taken if thousands of lives are to be prevented from being lost every year.

Works Cited

Brown, Benson Bradford, Reed Larson and T. S. Saraswati. The world’s youth: adolescence in eight regions of the globe. Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Dawson College. “Is 16 too young to be driving?; Insurance Institute wants age raised.” The Gazette (2008): E. 5.

Kelly, Mary and Norma Nielson. “Why Age Matters.” CBCA Complete (2006).

OECD/ECMT Transport Research Centre, OECD, European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations. Economic Commission for Europe. Young drivers: the road to safety. OECD Publishing, 2006.

Stafford, Rob. The perils of teen driving. 2005. Web.

The Standard Times. Teens speak out on speeding. 1999. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, November 13). Raising the Legal Driving Age. https://ivypanda.com/essays/raising-the-legal-driving-age/

"Raising the Legal Driving Age." IvyPanda , 13 Nov. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/raising-the-legal-driving-age/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Raising the Legal Driving Age'. 13 November.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Raising the Legal Driving Age." November 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/raising-the-legal-driving-age/.

1. IvyPanda . "Raising the Legal Driving Age." November 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/raising-the-legal-driving-age/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Raising the Legal Driving Age." November 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/raising-the-legal-driving-age/.

• Fallin' by Alicia Keys: Music Reflection
• Human Nature and Ethics in the "Talk to Her" Movie
• Martin Luther King's and Alicia Garza's Speeches
• The Comparison of the Speeches by Martin Luther King and Alicia Garza
• Comparing the Oratory Styles and Impact of Martin Luther King Jr. and Alicia Garza
• Attention Deficit Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Sarah Kwon’s and Alicia Batice Speech: Critique
• Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Alicia Garza's Speeches Comparison
• Modern Society Issues in the "Song Brand New Me" by Alicia Keys
• Social Movements and the Role of Leaders in Them
• Torts and Crimes. Liability for Traffic Accidents
• "Uber Self-Driving Cars: Everything You Need to Know" by Johnson and Fitzsimmons
• Cell Phone Use and Driving: Mian vs. City of Ottawa
• Radar Guns and Speed Measurement
• Safety and Older Drivers Dilemma

The Case for Raising the Driving Age from 16 to 21 in the U.S.

The ongoing debate about raising the legal driving age from 16 to 21 in the United States is being discussed more and more these days, with impassioned opinions on both sides. However, recent developments and a closer examination of the potential benefits make the case for raising the driving age increasingly persuasive. In this article, we’ll cover eight reasons why raising the driving age to 21 just might be the right move for the U.S.

1. Improved Road Safety: Saving Lives, One Teen at a Time

By far, the most powerful argument in favor of raising the driving age is the potential to save lives by reducing the number of traffic accidents involving teenage drivers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 16- to 19-year-olds are almost three times more likely to be in a fatal crash than drivers aged 20 and older. By raising the legal driving age, we could significantly reduce the risks and make our roads safer for everyone.

2. Maturity Matters: Let the Brain Catch Up

The teenage brain is a work in progress, especially when it comes to critical decision-making and impulse control. Research has shown that the prefrontal cortex – the region responsible for rational thinking – doesn’t fully mature until a person reaches their mid-20s. By raising the driving age to 21, we give young drivers a few more years to hone their decision-making abilities, which could lead to safer roads for all.

3. Alternatives Abound: Embracing Eco-Friendly Transportation

By raising the driving age to 21, we could encourage young people to seek alternative modes of transportation, such as biking, walking, or public transit. This shift has the potential to reduce traffic congestion, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and promote a healthier, more active lifestyle among young adults.

4. Insurance Savings: Cutting Costs for Families

The financial burden of insuring a teenage driver can be significant. According to a Forbes article , adding a teen driver to an insurance policy can increase premiums by as much as 250%. By raising the driving age, families would be able to save a substantial amount of money on insurance costs.

5. Less Peer Pressure: Reducing Risky Behavior on the Road

One contributing factor to the high number of accidents involving teenage drivers is the influence of peer pressure. With friends in the car, young drivers are more likely to engage in risky behavior, such as speeding, texting while driving, or not wearing seatbelts. By raising the driving age to 21, we could potentially reduce the impact of peer pressure on driving habits, as young adults may be better equipped to resist these pressures.

6. Reducing Distractions: A Focused Approach to Driving

In today’s fast-paced world, distractions are everywhere, and young drivers are particularly susceptible to the pitfalls of multitasking behind the wheel. Raising the driving age could offer a chance to instill better habits in young adults, emphasizing the importance of focus and undivided attention when operating a vehicle.

7. Parental Peace of Mind: Less Worry for Moms and Dads

It’s no secret that parents of teenage drivers often experience a great deal of anxiety, fearing for their child’s safety on the road. By raising the driving age to 21, parents could have greater peace of mind, knowing that their children will have more time to mature and develop better decision-making skills before venturing out on the road.

8. Patience Pays Off: Cultivating a Culture of Preparedness

By waiting until the age of 21 to obtain a driver’s license, young adults may place greater value on the privilege of driving, approaching it with more caution and respect. This shift in attitude could create a culture of preparedness, where new drivers are more inclined to take comprehensive driving courses and invest in further training before hitting the road.

The Road Ahead

Raising the driving age from 16 to 21 presents a compelling case, with numerous potential benefits ranging from improved road safety to fostering a more responsible attitude toward driving. As we continue to navigate this complex debate, it’s essential to consider these potential benefits while striving to create an environment that prioritizes safety and well-being for everyone on the road.

Current Legal Driving Age in Every State in the U.S.

Really, there isn’t one “legal driving age” in the U.S. It varies state to state, where each uses a graduated licensing system, involving several stages for earning driving privileges. In some states, you can earn a Learner’s Permit even as young as 14 years old! Check out this table below.

What do you think? Should the driving age be increased?

By constitutional

Related post, navigating california’s e-bicycle laws, understanding a staged car accident and how to respond, uber’s safety features, leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Guide To Separation in Virginia

How can false evidence impact your criminal charge, the difference between a protection order and criminal charge.

• Spring 2022

Unpopular opinion: The legal driving age should be increased

by Marla Rowley , Reporter March 24, 2022

The leading cause of death among teens… car accidents. The controversy around raising the driving age has remained a hot topic with safety experts, politicians, and drivers. As the number of car accidents remains a constant issue in today’s society, Some advocate that the legal driving age will prevent road accidents. 

In many ways, I agree.  Driving has changed significantly.

In some states, drivers can earn their learner’s permit when they’re as young as 14. In most European countries, the minimal driving age is 18, which results in fewer deaths and accidents. With America having millions of yearly accidents and considered one of the most dangerous countries to drive, is it ethical to continue allowing teenagers to drive so young?

Over a decade ago, Maryland senators proposed a bill to raise the legal driving age to 18 in order to reduce teen traffic deaths. This law is a three-stage licensing process where people can receive their permit at 16 and a full unrestricted license at 18. Many disagreed with this bill, saying that drivers wouldn’t be any more prepared at 18 compared to being 16. 

Many teens condemn the idea of having to wait even longer to begin driving. They enjoy the freedom and flexibility it gives them. Having the ability to drive allows them to manage their schedules better and not rely on a family members to drive them around.

However, teens tend to underestimate the dangers of driving and make more reckless decisions due to having underdeveloped brains. 

Distracted Driving

Teens are much more prone to distracted driving. From playing music too loud, having distractive passengers, drinking, and texting, 16- year-olds are more susceptible to being in an accident due to mistakes made within the vehicle. 

For example, teenagers are addicted to their phones. According to a survey done by the AAFP, one in three U.S teens text while driving.  This behavior is typically associated with other behaviors such as drunk driving, speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and other forms of distracted driving. Although, it is estimated that the actual number of teenagers who text and drive is much higher. 

Drinking and driving among teens is very common, despite drinking being illegal for people under 21. In 2019, 24% of drivers ages 15-20 were killed in a car accident after drinking . Teenagers’ lack of driving experience along with drinking and taking drugs heightens the risk for crashes. 

Thrill of Reckless Driving

In addition to distracted driving, teens tend to lack good decision making when it comes to driving. Adolescents are more likely to take risks and put themselves in uncertain situations . This is attributed to teens not being finished developing and immaturity. The responsibility of driving a car combined with underdeveloped brains allows for more fatal accidents. 

During teenage years, the part of the brain that controls emotion develops faster than the part that controls impulses . This accounts for more risk-taking behaviors among adolescents like speeding, swerving, and driving while distracted. At the age of 18, a teenagers brain is significantly more developed which contributes to less road accidents. 

At Linganore High School, there have been a total of four car accidents involving students this year. One of those accidents resulted in medical attention. Ted Mostoller, Linganores student resource officer, agreed that teens’ inexperience in driving results in more accidents. Younger drivers are less prepared for things such as bad weather, road rage, and traffic. 

Developing Brains

While adolescents are at higher risks of making reckless decisions while driving due to immaturity, many teens in today’s society are too emotionally unstable to be operating a vehicle. The emotional development in teens suggests that they’re likely not prepared to safely drive a vehicle at 16 without supervision. 

Despite teens being in their prime physical health, many suffer from suicidal behaviors and substance abuse. These characteristics combined with independently operating a vehicle present more risk on the road. 

In 2017, it was reported that 17% of teens in grades 9-12 thought seriously about attempting suicide, and 2.4% of teens made a suicide attempt resulting in medical attention. This is the age where most people begin driving. If such a high number of teens are experiencing suicidal thoughts, giving children the responsibility of doing something as dangerous as driving isn’t logical. Although, by the time teens graduate high school, their mental health dramatically improves making it much safer to independently operate a car. 

Reduce Road Accidents

In 2019, nearly 2,400 teens were treated for motor vehicle crashes and every day, about 7 teens die from car accidents . Teen drivers are three times more likely to be in a fatal accident compared to people over the age of 20. Inexperience, bad critical decision making, alcohol and substance abuse are all factors that put teens at risk. 

Inexperienced drivers are unavoidable since everyone has to start somewhere. Although, there are significant differences in the brain of an average 16 year old compared to an 18 year old driver. Raising the legal driving age to 18 could help lower the overall rate of fatal crashes and allow teens more time to mature before taking responsibility for driving. Regardless if you think the driving age should be increased or stay the same, teens definitely need more guidance before receiving their license. 

Do you think the driving age should be increased?

Sorry, there was an error loading this poll.

Your donation will support the student journalists of Linganore High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase camera/recording equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs. We hope to raise enough money to re-start a monthly printed issue of our paper.

Continuous Coverage

Site Excellence

Story Page Excellence

MLB THE SHOW 24 Review: Is it a good game?

Out with the old, in with the new: Are the Linganore Longhorns our future?

• Arts & Entertainment

Ariana Grande dazzles listeners with new album “Eternal Sunshine”

“The Caitlin Clark Effect”: Equality in women’s sports isn’t such a long shot after all

Stop Trend Hopping: Overconsumption consumes younger generations’ time and money

Lancer Media Podcast: The Ruby Franke case is franke-ly disturbing

Love Triangles: Which brother is better?

The Cancel Culture Paradox: Silencing voices, amplifying conversations

Could new medical science help us cure age-related illness?

The gym is less intimidating than you think

The student news site of Linganore High School

Comments (2)

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Eva • Feb 6, 2024 at 10:54 pm

Anonymous • Apr 15, 2024 at 3:16 pm

• Daily Announcements
• Lancer Spotlights

Band 7 essay about driving age

Band 7 essay sample.

Some people support the rule 18 years as minimum age to start riding car; however other feel that this age limit should be increased to 25. This essay will discuss both the views and give a reasonable conclusion.

Firstly, people who argue that 18 is the perfect age to start driving a car is because they feel that most teenagers become biologicallymature at this age. Most countries have concluded through several scientific studiesthat juveniles can learn driving and overcome their road fear at early age like 18. Moreover, during this mature age they start going to college and need to have enough facilities like own transport to live an independent life. Hence, most countries allow to start driving at 18 years.

However, some people believe that minimum age limit to issue driving license should be increased to 25 years because they see driving as a serious affair. Most youngsters get carried away by passion to ride at high speed and lead to serious road accidents. For instance, in a country like India where roads are so shabby and easy to cause vehicle collision, speeding is a common factor for serious fatalities. Therefore, driving should be permitted at age of 25 to ensure safety of citizens.

In conclusion, I believe from the above discussed points that governments should continue to issue driving license at age of 18 because it is the perfect age to learn driving and teenagers need to have their own transport to enjoy life. However, their intention to drive furiously could be controlled by enforcing strict traffic laws and legislation in place.

(256 words)

Share with friends

Scan below qr code to share with your friends, related ielts tips.

Writing task 2 for Band 7-Essay Evaluation

  Here is the recent exam Essay Writing Question appeared in Writing...

Band 7 essay sample: Decisions should be made by managers and not employees

IELTS essay prompt Some people think that managers alone should make decisions...

IELTS Band 7 essay sample: Young people are getting more infleuenced by their friends

IELTS essay prompt Young people are getting more influenced by their friends...

Band 7 essay sample: Some people believe that boys and girls should be taught in separate schools

These essays are written by our students and may contain mistakes. All...

Band 7 essay sample: People spend a lot of money on celebrations. Is this justified?

Essay topic People spend a lot of money on celebrations. Is this justified? Student’s...

Thank you for contacting us!

We have received your message.

We will get back within 48 hours.

You have subscribed successfully.

Thank you for your feedback, we will investigate and resolve the issue within 48 hours.

Your answers has been saved successfully.

Add Credits

You do not have enough iot credits.

Your account does not have enough IOT Credits to complete the order. Please purchase IOT Credits to continue.

• IELTS Scores
• Life Skills Test
• Find a Test Centre
• Alternatives to IELTS
• General Training
• Academic Word List
• Topic Vocabulary
• Collocation
• Phrasal Verbs
• Writing eBooks
• Reading eBook
• All eBooks & Courses

Task 2 Essay: Driving Age

by muhammad (bukhara)

when they face the one Because for some senior drivers have heart failure that cause in roads to lose the control and accident.  Age limit law may control road accidents and save senior generations’ life to lose. 

Click here to post comments

Return to Writing Submissions - Task 2.

Before you go...

Check out the ielts buddy band 7+ ebooks & courses.

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

• Click on the HTML link code below.
• Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Band 7+ eBooks

"I think these eBooks are FANTASTIC!!! I know that's not academic language, but it's the truth!"

Linda, from Italy, Scored Band 7.5

IELTS Modules:

Other resources:.

• All Lessons
• Band Score Calculator
• Writing Feedback
• Speaking Feedback
• Teacher Resources
• Free Downloads
• Recent Essay Exam Questions
• Books for IELTS Prep
• Useful Links

Recent Articles

Paraphrasing in the IELTS Test: Speaking and Writing

May 03, 24 10:26 AM

Fillers for IELTS Speaking: Avoid 'Eh', Uhm', 'You know'.

Apr 27, 24 05:48 AM

Decreasing House Sizes Essay

Apr 06, 24 10:22 AM

Important pages

IELTS Writing IELTS Speaking IELTS Listening   IELTS Reading All Lessons Vocabulary Academic Task 1 Academic Task 2 Practice Tests

Connect with us

Copyright © 2022- IELTSbuddy All Rights Reserved

IELTS is a registered trademark of University of Cambridge, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. This site and its owners are not affiliated, approved or endorsed by the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia.

Home / IELTS, CAE, FCE Writing Samples / IELTS Writing Task 2: Driving Age

IELTS Writing Task 2: Driving Age

Most countries allow 18-year old to start driving a car. Some say that it is good to allow start driving at the age of 18. Others feel that the age to start driving should be 25. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

The debate of minimum age limit for driving is on-going from ages , wherein people have contradictory views (1) . It has been argued by some people that the minimum age to learn driving should be 18 years, whilst others disagree and feel it should be 25 years. In my opinion, the lower limit to start driving should be 25 years. To begin with, there are plenty of reasons to illustrate increasing age limit for driving is utmost essential (2) . First and foremost, accidents are inevitable while driving, which can be handled at its best from experienced elders. Juvenility is the age wherein people cannot make judgemental decisions during any accidents and end up losing their precious life. A prime example is a survey conducted by Indian government using data collected over 10 years with respect to accidents encountered in the country. The result of the survey was astonishing, as the people who lost their life during accidents involve 70% of juveniles under 20 years. On the other hand, it is always good to give opportunity for the younger generation who are keen on learning things. Even though age is a deciding factor, there are some juveniles who are capable of taking right decisions and drive carefully. If the government make 25 years as the lower limit for driving, some juveniles may feel depressed who are eager to learn driving (3) . An instance illustrating this in action is the life of “George Mellor” who invented Mercedez at the age of 29 years (4) . He had a great passion for a car right from the age of 10, which was nurtured by his parents, who allowed George to learn driving from very young age. Driving is popular among people which is a mandatory skill to lead a balanced and happier life. In my view, though lower limit to kick start driving can be 18 years, I am convinced that, it is always better to make it 25 years and give extreme importance to our offspring’s life who are assets of our nation. 340 words

The commentaries are marked in brackets with number (*). The numbered commentaries are found below. The part in italics is taken from the text, the word underlined is the suggested correction. Words in (brackets) are the suggested addition to the original phrase or sentence.

• wherein people have contradicting views —  ‘contradictory views’ would imply that a person has two views that contradict each other e.g. ‘Young people shouldn’t be driving because they have poor judgement’ and ‘Young people should be allowed to drive to give them more personal freedom’ .
• To begin with, there are plenty of reasons to illustrate ( that ) increasing age limit for driving is most  essential —  ‘utmost’ is not an adverb and therefore shouldn’t be used with an adjective.
• If the government make 25 years the lower limit for driving, some juveniles who are eager to learn driving may feel depressed —  rearranging the sentence sometimes makes it easier to follow. In this case it is better to describe what type of people may feel depressed first.
• An instance illustrating this in action is the life of “George Mellor” who invented Mercedes at the age of 29 years —  spelling mistake. If you want to mention factual data such as the name of a person here, make sure you use it correctly. I couldn’t find any connection of George Mellor with Mercedes.

The essay has a defined structure and well-developed argumentation. It is easy to follow and understand. Well done!

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

An opinion essay

Learn how to write an opinion essay.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Preparation

MultipleSelection_MjMwNTM=

Information will soon be so easy to find on the internet that people will not need to remember anything. Do you agree?

Nowadays all the information we could ever need is available online and some people say that means the end of having to learn anything.

It is true that these days everything you want to know is a few clicks away as long as you have internet access. However, not everyone has working internet all the time, for example in certain buildings or remote locations, so we do need to be able to remember information. Moreover, it takes time to look up everything you need to know online, whereas remembering something is immediate. The human memory is a much more efficient system.

Another problem is the quality of the information online. How do we know if it is accurate or reliable? We need to think about other facts we know and remember how to compare information from different websites. Knowing (and remembering) how to find certain information will be more important than knowing the information itself.

Finally, the internet is a good tool but it is not a useful replacement for our brains. If we did not remember anything, we would all spend even more time on our phones and computers than we already do, which is not good for society.

In conclusion, the internet offers us many things but it is still important to use our knowledge and memories. We need our memories to function without the internet and we also need to know how to use the internet properly.

• Read the question carefully. Respond to all ideas in it or all parts of it.
• Plan your ideas first and then choose the best ones.
• Introduce your essay by restating the question in your own words.
• Show understanding of both sides of the argument.
• Use linking words to connect your ideas.
• Draw your conclusion from the main ideas in your essay. Don't introduce new ideas at the end.

What do you think about the question? Would it be better or worse if we never learned anything and just used the internet instead?

Language level

It would be worse. If we only look for information on the internet, for everythingg and every time when we have a question about something we will become ''rusty robots''.

In other words, our minds, without exercising the creativity and memory of our brains, will be almost completly out of purpose. What's more, we will be lazy and with a slow capacity of thinking properly.

• Log in or register to post comments

It is evidently known that in recent days, the exchange of information is progressive over the network of various channels which we call it as Internet. Experts have made some definite predictions about the availability of data and information on the above mode of communication in near future. This particular development is totally agreeable. With respect to the technological advancements pertaining to the above, the human life shall be prepared to be compatible with the communication platforms on the network of servers. The key strengths will mainly focus on speed of communication, less errors and information accuracy. This aspect of technological development will eventually replace the traditional modes of information storage. This requires no effort in preservation of information on physical devices as all the core information will be stored in virtual servers. On the other hand, the above paradigm shift in terms of data centralization will certainly replace human brains. This attempt will not trigger any living beings to memorize information physically. It is quite obvious that our brains are limited and restricted with space constraints. Hence, this technology of information storage will drastically replace these drawbacks. Overall, this phenomenal trend of networking has provided a seamless mode of gathering, interpreting and storing information. At the same time, the consequences will be tremendous and noticeable as it will lead to an era where in people across the globe can surf and search their expected piece of data with-in no time. Practically, they don’t have to bother about any challenges related to failure of storage elements. Finally, this pattern of information storage is promisingly going to be accepted.

I think the use of the internet is not only in conflict with learning, but It has made the speed of learning faster and more comfortable.

On the one hand, With the advent of the internet and access to data whenever we want, we were able to free our minds from memorizing a lot of unnecessary data. It caused that instead of spending our time to remember the formulas and data, we use our time for a deeper understanding of the concepts. Concentration on understanding was a big step in order to make us more clear about how to apply scientific concepts practically, and It made the evolutionary process of turning scientific concepts into experimental tests go faster. Going through this evolutionary process quickly, in turn, caused, firstly, the faster growth of modern technologies and, secondly, the creation of many new data, concepts, and sciences. And now the data volume is so much that not only you can never remember or learn them, but you have to choose the best one that works for you. Somehow, the internet has changed how to learn. It has focused on analyzing the options and choosing the best one to learn Instead of memorizing a bunch of content.

On the other hand, Theoretically speaking, One of the laws In the world is that everything can be useful or harmful in turn. This law also applies to the internet. In fact, how to use the internet determines whether it is useful or harmful. Like many other tools that have been invented such as smartphones, smartwatches, electric cars, and so on we have spent time learning how to use them. In order to get the best out of the internet and don't waste our time, we must take the time to learn how to search. The searching skill is the most important one that helps us find better results.

In conclusion, Given the two analyzed reasons above, I agree with the idea that easy access to Information makes people get rid of memorizing lots of data. But this has nothing to do with the quality or quantity of learning.

I think it depends on the type of information. Some information are easier to remember, and hence it's more efficient to have them in memory instead of looking for them online. However, some complex information is offered online, and it will be impractical if we tried to remember it. Additionally, I believe that learning is not just about acquiring knowledge. It's about learning how to think with this knowledge available and solve problems efficiently. That's why the internet is considered a valuable tool to promote learning, not to replace it.

Nowadays we are witnesses how far technology has developed in a short time. A huge of information is backing up on internet and if you have access of surfing you can find any information that you are looking for. However, there are some relevant aspects that should be taking into account when we are talking about using always internet instead of learning. In this sense, the purpose of this essay will be to explain why it is not a good idea. Firstly, as you know, most of the information on internet is fake. For that reason, it is impossible the learning process can be replaced by internet use. If you are looking for reliable information you have to learn how it works. In other words you need of learning even if you want to use internet all the time because you have to discern what of all information is useful for you purpose. For example, if you are a student and want to write an essay about a specific topic you likely have to search for the best information if you want to get a job position or scholarship. Secondly, there is a high demand for professionals who have specific skills in the field that they are pretending to be involved. That’s why learning always is a must for satisfying the requirements of companies and institutions. For instance, in the education field, the main aim is the learning and knowledge which are essential on a daily life to be an expert in your field of action and these skills can’t be acquired through internet surfing. To sum up learning and knowledge are fundamentals in a current world that is demanding professionals highly qualified even in our daily live and the internet is far away of satisfying the required skills that you get every day through the practice, research and networking.

I think it become worse and dangerous for our society, we need to control it making rules. Without internet, many skills and knowledge could´nt be used.

I believe that, The internet become even more dangerous for young people who barely discovered the world around them, If they count on it for seeking information without parental supervision, it would be a disaster!

In nowadays,there are many ways to reach information.The Internet is just one of them but maybe most promising one.The Internet helps us to find information easily and efficently.

However there are some negative sides of Internet.For instance realibilty of information.There are no real control on Internet.I reckon there will not be soon.This reduces the trust in internet.This is why People will always need another source to be make sure and need to remember information.

It is also necesseray for objectivity. You can not just have one source and expect true and impartial information. It is against nature of science.This is not how science works.People must have and process the information.In this way we expand our knowledge.When we make brainstorm we always end up with another information. If we don’t have and process the information how Science works?

I suppose in the future People will never trust completely to Internet. They will always need another source and they will need to interrogate source of information.In conclusion Internet is by far most promising invention People have ever invented.However Internet is not beyond our brain and imagination.We will always need to posses and process the information.

It is about my hometown: My hometown is a beautiful, attractive and cool. N'beika is one of the most famous places in Mauritania where attractive views and economic capacities are in. It is located in Tagant which is in middle of the map. Therefore, It is one the biggest cities in the country. As there are interesting geographical features such as: high Mountains, nice valleys, light hills and wonderful pools. Historically, N'beika played an important role in culture, trade exchange and fighting colonialist. Also it has saved historical landmarks, for example: manuscripts, books and cities which the most important is Gasr Albarka. In the north, there have tourist views and in the East big mountains with lovely valleys like Matmata where there are some Alligators in and other attractive animals. As well as from the south and the west there are some fields, forests and farms. Moreover, people are interested in agriculture, trade, development and education. Furthermore, there are many schools and Mahidras and three colleges providing well-deserved education to students. What's more, mall shops is offering demands and created jobs for unemployment. There are different favourite for people , some of them are crazy about football as youth, and some people like doing agriculture and development. Moreover, there are entrepreneurs doing a small business like selling clothes, pitch, barbershop... etc. In conclusion, N'beika is a gift of Allah that has given to people to spend nice moments in order to feel happy and to invest for everything we want due to gain lots of money .

I believe it is amazing updated technology which has helped us a lot in our lives. In todays era everyone has access to internet over the globe. you can easily find all the information on internet that is required to you. Even though learn many new skills which aren't even taught you from the help of internet. it is good help for book writer like us where we can be part of book writing communities or book writing resources to enhance our skills and provides more guidance to others.

Online courses

Group and one-to-one classes with expert teachers.

Learn English in your own time, at your own pace.

One-to-one sessions focused on a personal plan.

Get the score you need with private and group classes.  

Watch CBS News

Frank Bruni explores how grievance shapes American society in new book

Tiffany Haddish just can’t quit. Even when she knows she should

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

“Come with me,” Tiffany Haddish says, walking out her front door.

I’ve barely had the chance to say hello before she’s heading down the sidewalk. I trail behind, fumbling around in my bag for a recording device as she explains that there’s an open house she wants to check out before we sit in her Crenshaw home and discuss her new book of autobiographical essays — or anything else.

Haddish doesn’t sleep on local real estate opportunities. She’s deeply invested in South L.A., spiritually and financially. She already owns about a dozen properties in the area, many of which she rents out to organizations that house foster youth.

Who are the people shaping our culture? In her column, Amy Kaufman examines the lives of icons, underdogs and rising stars to find out — “For Real.”

She has two houses on this boulevard alone — one she sleeps in, one she works in — but neither needed the kind of work that is obviously required to make livable the for-sale property she walks into on this Sunday afternoon.

There are dark stains permeating the carpets, missing ceiling tiles, an enormous window above the toilet that opens to the hallway for no discernible reason.

“How many developers came through here today?” Haddish asks the real estate agent, who confirms that about 90% of the visitors have been investors. Most have estimated the house needs around $300,000 worth of renovations. But the sellers want a regular buyer.

“I’m a regular buyer!” she says. “I got my first house here for around $600,000, but that was in 2015. And now this is what, $1 million?”

The agent shakes his head.

“More?” she asks, incredulous. The 1,548-square-foot abode is in fact listed for $1.1 million, he says. She is aghast but continues surveying the space. There are kumquats and lemons growing in the backyard, which she likes. She’s big into eating healthy, and is in the midst of attempting to open a grocery store nearby that will give the community access to nutritious food choices.

“I’d need to do another movie,” she says, mulling it over.

Entertainment & Arts

Tiffany Haddish explains why stand-up comedy will always be the best art form

Even after success in TV and film, the comedian explains why her first home will always be a spotlight with a microphone.

Aug. 3, 2022

By the end of the week, she has a tentative plan: Get a few of her friends to help her buy the place, then put the property in a trust, fix it up and rent it out for a reasonable price.

“I mean, if you want to get in on this, you are more than welcome to join,” she tells me over the phone from San Antonio, where she is, appropriately, giving a paid keynote for the Texas Apartment Assn.

And the thing is, she’s totally serious. Because that is who Tiffany Haddish is. Someone who divulges the details of her real estate portfolio in lieu of exchanging pleasantries. One of maybe three celebrities on Earth who will answer any question, no matter how intimate. A comedian who has bared her open wounds — homelessness, domestic violence, rape, miscarriage — and used them as material.

Her latest book, “I Curse You With Joy,” out May 7, is even more raw than her first: She goes from describing how she located her G spot to revealing that when she was 7, her mother got “Satan’s fire” in her eyes and hissed: “You wouldn’t even be here if [your dad] didn’t rape me.”

So when she says she’s been working with a therapist to learn how to set better boundaries — be more mindful of her own limitations — I believe her. It’s a decision she came to after her inability to draw lines started to threaten not just her career but her sanity. Since her star-making turn in “Girls Trip” seven years ago, headlines about Haddish have shifted from anointing her as Hollywood’s next big thing to predicting her downfall after a series of scandals.

It started with a 2019 alcohol-fueled disaster, when Haddish was so inebriated at a New Year’s Eve show in Miami that she forgot her jokes and fans walked out in protest. Then, in 2022, she was arrested in Georgia on suspicion of driving under the influence after police received a call about a driver who was allegedly asleep at the wheel. She was similarly detained this past November, when Beverly Hills cops found her asleep in her badly parked car and charged her with her second DUI.

She’s never had a problem with alcohol, she insists. The issue was pushing herself past her limits.

Just before her 2023 arrest , she’d spent the day cooking and then serving food to 2,000 people at the Laugh Factory. Afterward, she went to her family’s house to share some leftovers when she got a call that more food was needed elsewhere. She could have — should have, she says she knows now — sent it in an Uber.

Instead, she drove herself, even though she’d been up since 5 a.m. and was exhausted. (Her blood alcohol level that night was 0.03% and the DUI charge was later dismissed; she ultimately pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor reckless driving violation.)

For those who know Haddish, this tracks. Shermona Clark, a friend since ninth grade, says, “It was like nothing for us” when their friends heard Haddish fell asleep in her car.

“It was like, that’s what she do. She’ll pull over and go to sleep in the car,” Clark says. “We’d ask her why she was driving, tell her it wasn’t safe. She’s always done that. Go, go, go.

“She always wants to prove that she’s not a quitter,” Clark adds. “That she’s gonna make it, that she’s smart and talented. We all know that already. But there’s something in her where she just can’t see it like we do.”

But at 44, Haddish says she’s legitimately trying to slow down. Not take every job she’s offered, stop doing so many favors, sleep more.

“If I say I can’t do something, I can’t do it. I feel way more comfortable saying that now,” she says. “I can’t bend backwards no more. I’m not built for it.”

Not everyone is convinced.

“She ain’t slowing down,” says Clark, laughing. “What does ‘chill’ mean? ‘OK, I’m not gonna take on 11 projects, just 10?’”

If you’ve been training yourself to keep pushing and tough things out for four decades, it becomes endemic to your personality. When Haddish got hugely, suddenly famous in 2017, so too did the story of her challenging upbringing.

Growing up in South L.A., her home life was unstable. Haddish’s father had left the family when she was 3; five years later, her mother was in a car accident and suffered such serious brain damage that she started physically and verbally abusing her children. Haddish and her four younger half-siblings ended up in foster care.

When Haddish was 15 and living in a group home, she landed a spot in a free comedy camp at the Laugh Factory, where she was mentored by Richard Pryor. Still, she struggled for years to make ends meet. She was homeless and living out of her 1995 Geo Metro before she started getting roles in TV series like “Real Husbands of Hollywood” and “The Carmichael Show” beginning in 2013.

When “Girls Trip” came out, she was 37, and the media turned her into a sort of rags-to-riches, never-give-up poster child. She hosted “Saturday Night Live” and won an Emmy for it, landed the cover of Time’s 100 issue, took home a Grammy for narrating her New York Times bestselling memoir. She headlined a movie with Kevin Hart, voiced characters in all the big animated kids films, hosted MTV award shows.

“And then, all of a sudden, it almost felt like, ‘OK, now you too famous,’” says Lil Rel Howery, who has been close with Haddish since they met while competing on “Who’s Got Jokes?” in 2006. “People love underdogs until you become, I guess, a top dog.”

There has definitely been a palpable vibe shift surrounding Haddish. It’s not that she doesn’t still get work — in the last year she’s appeared in Disney’s “Haunted Mansion,” the last season of “The Afterparty” on Apple TV+ and filmed a role in the forthcoming “Bad Boys” sequel. But she’s no longer one of those beloved stars everyone seems to root for.

Some of that is due to a disturbing lawsuit that was filed and then dismissed within the span of three weeks in 2022.

In a legal complaint filed in L.A. Superior Court , an anonymous young woman claimed that Haddish and fellow comedian Aries Spears had “groomed” her and her younger brother to engage in sexually suggestive comedic sketches when they were minors.

Haddish and Spears denied this and less than a month later, the Jane Doe asked a judge to dismiss the case and released a statement recanting the accusation. “My family and I have known Tiffany Haddish for many years,” it read, “and we now know that she would never harm me or my brother.”

But the damage to Haddish’s reputation had been done. The deal she made for “I Curse You With Joy” in 2020 “went sour,” as did a second one; the publishing houses “got scared,” she says. “Scared of me, scared it wouldn’t do well. ‘Oh, she’s a problem. She’s too controversial.’”

Haddish says she was preparing to self-release the project, but it eventually found a home at Diversion Books. It will arrive on shelves a couple of months after her latest controversy — a February trip to Israel, which she announced via Instagram video from a first-class airline seat.

After reconnecting with her father as an adult, Haddish learned that she had Jewish roots in Eritrea. She dove into the religion, joining the Stephen Wise Temple and being bat mitzvah’d at age 40.

In the video, she said she was embarking to Israel for the first time on a self-funded trip to “learn and see with my own eyes.” But fans did not respond well to news that she was heading to the country in the midst of the war with Hamas. “Insecure” star Amanda Seales said on Patreon that she was so “disturbed” by the trip that she would end her friendship with Haddish, declaring the comedian didn’t “have the backbone to stand on what is right.”

To her closest friends, the prolonged backlash has been troublesome — and baffling.

“Because everybody was kissing her a—” after “Girls Trip,” says Howery, the “Get Out” star. “Then the jealousy started with other actors and stuff. They’re like, ‘How is she winning?’ Everybody was cheering her on for being herself, and then that’s the same thing that people got mad about. ‘She’s doing too much!’ But she’s been doing too much.”

The foster kids Haddish works with through her nonprofit She Ready Foundation get especially upset about hate they see directed toward her online.

“They cry to me, like, ‘Stop being famous! I want you to quit!” she says. “They said it hurts their feelings to see what people say about me.”

After the open house, Haddish and I have returned to the home she uses as an office. She bought it last year for $1.6 million — a totally redone three-bedroom with subway tile backsplash, soaking tub and solar panels. It’s modern and sparse, lacking personal details save for a random, small canvas on the wall that she made in a Sip ’n’ Paint class she bought off Groupon a few years back.

Haddish grabs an apple off the kitchen island, eats it and then clutches the core in her hand for half an hour, rather than throw it out and disrupt her thoughts about getting trolled.

Comments about her online have gotten so negative that last year, she began blocking certain phrases on Instagram, including “setback,” “pedo” and “not funny.” She hired a digital forensics analyst to research where her death threats were coming from — 75% were created by robots in Malaysia and Iran, which made her feel better.

She also created a fake Instagram account where an alter ego named Sarah will go in and “destroy” anyone hating on her by deploying details from their personal lives.

“I’ve learned how to find people’s information — like I pull up the credit report, police records. You can do that for $1.99,” Haddish says. “Sometimes, I get so mad that I’ll get they phone number and I’ll just call them.”

She registers the disbelief on my face.

“Oh, I have called people, honey,” she says. “They be shocked that I called. They’ll be like, ‘I can’t believe you even saw that.’ You did a whole video, b—! You made a full, five-minute video! On the internet, people think they can just say whatever and you not gonna say anything. I try my best not to, but I’m a human being.”

Many of the comments pertain to the lawsuit, she says. Haddish doesn’t feel it’s affected her career — plenty of folks still approach her to fan out in the airport, she says — but she has noticed an attitude adjustment from some people in the industry.

Recently, she says, someone “of status” approached her and asked: “Is your mental health OK? Your name is always in the headlines. You said this, you said that. All I see is people attacking you. It’s like, ‘Oh, don’t get too close to Tiffany. I’m going to get attacked too.’”

Her mental health is perfectly fine, she says. Not that there haven’t been moments she’s questioned it. Usually when she’s on her period, suffering from such bad menstrual cramps that she often passed out. For years, doctors shrugged off her pain, suggesting that she take birth control pills or eat less acidic foods. Haddish recounts the words of one relative — “We used to be out in the fields having babies and working right after.” A woman who complained about her period, Haddish was told, was lying, weak, just trying to get sympathy.

So she started to think maybe she was mentally ill. Then, last year, a doctor finally diagnosed endometriosis. The chronic disease also explained why she’d suffered eight miscarriages — something a prior OB-GYN had misattributed to the shape of her uterus. Until last year, she kept the losses from almost everyone.

“I’d call her and say, ‘How’s your day?’ and she might start talking about work,” recalls Selena Martin, who has been Haddish’s best friend since seventh grade. “And I’m like, ‘OK, that’s nice. But how are you doing?’ In track, our coach used to call us odd names if we were running slow, like ‘hamburger.’ So I’ll ask, ‘No, how’s old hamburger doing?’”

Even as she was miscarrying, Haddish kept quiet, showed up to work, went onstage. She saw the way people talked about pregnancy loss — how they treated women who went through it like pariahs. “I remember Gabrielle Union talked about having a bunch of miscarriages, and it was like, ‘Gabrielle Union can’t hold a baby,’” she says.

She didn’t want to hear that. Tried to be remain positive. This was just God’s birth control, she told herself, God’s way of telling her she was with the wrong man.

“Shame on you, Tiffany,” she admonishes herself now. “I didn’t want to be a quitter. Because my body was quitting. People have no idea what it feels like to have your soul falling out of your body. Because that’s what it feels like. My soul is like, ‘Oh, man. We was gonna grow that.’ You ever plant anything and then it f— dies and you really want it to live? You try to play cool, like it ain’t that bad. But it is.”

Tiffany Haddish times three in ‘Night School,’ ‘The Oath’ and ‘Nobody’s Fool’

Tiffany Haddish is having a great year.

Aug. 30, 2018

There are procedures Haddish could have to help her endometriosis — laparoscopic surgery to remove scar tissue. But she refuses. Years ago, she says, she had an abortion under anesthesia and she liked the feeling of the drugs so much that she’s scared that if she had access to them again, she’d develop an addiction.

She reasons with herself that menopause is probably only five years away and she finds ways to cope with the pain — marijuana helps a lot, though she’s been sober since Thanksgiving, when the judge in her ongoing Georgia DUI case instituted regular drug and alcohol testing following the Beverly Hills arrest. She says she plans to abstain from drinking even after the case is wrapped up, especially because she’s noticed a discernible difference in her pain over the last few months.

And she’s decided that she doesn’t want to have kids.

“I would hate to give birth to someone who looks like me, knowing they’re going to be hunted or killed,” she writes in “I Curse You With Joy.” “I don’t want the stress of worrying every time my Black baby goes to school or goes to hang out with their friends that they could end up dead.”

Growing up three miles away near 54th and Western, she was in gang territory. The park she hung out at was infamous for drive-by shootings and filled with police. When she was 13, she says, she watched a boy in her friend group get beat to death by the cops.

“You see s— like that? That don’t go away,” she says, her voice turning quiet and heavy. “You develop this underlying narrative of: ‘Are we being hunted?’ And people always tried to take advantage of me, even when I didn’t have nothing. I see these helicopter parents worried about they child, and I get it, because there are a lot of predators out here.”

She starts to cry, apologizes. This is a topic she particularly hates talking about — at 17, she explains, she was raped by a police cadet on the night of her homecoming dance. She was going to delve into it in her second book, but when she went to record the audio version, she found the experience too painful and cut the pages.

The incident dramatically affected how Haddish viewed men. In the years following it, she attempted to take her sexuality into her own hands. She slept with men freely, spoke unabashedly about her exploits. “I Curse You With Joy” is filled with graphic details of her sex life, including an oral sex tutorial and her preference for a “smedium” penis — something she says she established after intercourse with an extremely well-endowed man sent her to the hospital with a tilted uterus.

She thought sex of her own volition would empower her. If she was the pursuer, she’d be taking something from the man.

“But I was hurting myself the whole damn time,” she says now. “You’re really just kind of raping yourself. You’re giving up a piece of your spirit. I feel different, a little less, every time.”

In her comedy, and in her life, Haddish talks a lot about how closed off she is to relationships. Her last serious one was with rapper-actor Common; that ended after two years in 2021 . Since then, she says she’s adopted a new policy: Nine months and then she’s out. She’ll go on Bumble, but never Raya. No more celebrities.

“All the famous guys I used to think, ‘Oh, I would love to do it to him,’ I know them now and I’m like, ‘No,’” she says. “I used to really want Henry Cavill. I think he’s so hot. But I met him and he was so awkward. It was like, ‘This would be weird. I should be talking to him about Dungeons & Dragons. Maybe he’d be more comfortable.’

“Or,” she adds, “maybe he’s just never had a Black woman be like, ‘What’s up? What’s your credit score? Do you like spaghetti? I’ll cook for you. Are you afraid of South Central or not?’ But he’s still beautiful.”

Clark, who met Haddish when they were bused to El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills, isn’t buying this supposed stance on monogamy.

“Oh, she wants to be in a relationship,” says Clark. “I think it would be really, really good for her to be in a healthy — key word — relationship. She keeps that young, 20-year-old girl in her mind when she’s talking about it onstage, but really, deep down she’s such a relationship girl.”

Haddish says she has other things to work on first, like fixing her sleep routine. She used to get between two and three hours a night. Her fatigue got so bad that sometimes she even fell asleep during sex. And not always in the missionary position. She jumps up and gets on her hands and knees to imitate how it’s possible to be on top and still drift off with your head resting on someone’s chest.

So there’s the sleep thing — she’s getting between five and eight hours a night now. No more drinking. Exercising more frequently, cooking with the vegetables in her garden. Continuing to invest in her neighborhood. Coming to terms with her family.

Haddish’s mother lives with one of her half-sisters in Inglewood now after being institutionalized. Haddish takes their relationship “day by day,” she writes in her book. “I love her, but whew, it is still hard.”

If I met her mother, Haddish says, I wouldn’t notice anything off at first. But after a few hours, she’d start talking to herself, or turn swiftly argumentative. Haddish clings to the “glimmers of her — of my mommy” — the woman she knew before the accident. “And I miss her. But it’s not the same.”

Still, her mother’s admiration is the carrot that’s always dangling. “Am I doing all this, working myself to the bone, just for my mom’s approval?” she writes in “I Curse You With Joy.” “You know what? Kinda.”

There was a moment, recently, when Haddish brought her mom over to see a large home she’d just invested in. She watched as her mother took in the property, impressed.

“She goes, ‘I’m proud of you,’ and that was awesome. That was the best feeling in the world to hear that,” Haddish says. “At the end of the day, all you want is your mommy and daddy to be proud of you. Well, my daddy dead now. And I think she is proud.”

More to Read

An ambulance, an empty lot and a loophole: One man’s fight for a place to live

May 2, 2024

Mayor Bass’ ambitious housing program calls on L.A.’s wealthy. Can she pull it off?

April 21, 2024

Opinion: In L.A., real estate envy is all too real. I can’t stop looking at Zillow

Jan. 21, 2024

The biggest entertainment stories

Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Amy Kaufman is a columnist at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes a monthly A-1 column, “For Real With Amy Kaufman.” The series examines the lives of icons, underdogs and rising stars to find out who the people are shaping our culture — for real. Since joining The Times in 2009, she has profiled hundreds of influential figures, including Stevie Nicks, Kevin Hart, Joan Rivers, Michael B. Jordan and Lady Gaga. She also works on investigations and was part of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist team that covered the tragic shooting on the “Rust” film set. Her work often shines a light on the darker side of the entertainment business, and she has uncovered misconduct allegations against Randall Emmett, Russell Simmons and Chris D’Elia. In 2018, her book “Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure” became a New York Times bestseller.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Scandoval put Ariana Madix center stage. Can she stay there?

Feb. 29, 2024

After a political reckoning, Sarah Silverman tries to find her comedic voice again

Nov. 30, 2023

Travis Barker wants to be ‘superhuman.’ Catastrophe will do that to a man

Oct. 29, 2023

Reneé Rapp is remaking young female stardom. But can she enjoy it?

Sept. 24, 2023

Critic’s Notebook

The Comfortable Problem of Mid TV

It’s got a great cast. It looks cinematic. It’s, um … fine. And it’s everywhere.

Credit... Alex Merto

Supported by

• Share full article

By James Poniewozik

• April 27, 2024

A few years ago, “Atlanta” and “PEN15” were teaching TV new tricks.

In “Atlanta,” Donald Glover sketched a funhouse-mirror image of Black experience in America (and outside it), telling stories set in and around the hip-hop business with an unsettling, comic-surreal language. In “PEN15,” Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle created a minutely observed, universal-yet-specific picture of adolescent awkwardness.

In February, Glover and Erskine returned in the action thriller “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” on Amazon Prime Video. It’s … fine? A takeoff on the 2005 film , it updates the story of a married duo of spies by imagining the espionage business as gig work. The stars have chemistry and charisma; the series avails itself of an impressive cast of guest stars and delectable Italian shooting locations. It’s breezy and goes down easy. I watched several episodes on a recent long-haul flight and they helped the hours pass.

But I would never have wasted an episode of “Atlanta” or “PEN15” on in-flight entertainment. The work was too good, the nuances too fine, to lose a line of dialogue to engine noise.

I do not mean to single out Glover and Erskine here. They are not alone — far from it. Keri Russell, a ruthless and complicated Russian spy in “The Americans,” is now in “The Diplomat,” a forgettably fun dramedy. Natasha Lyonne, of the provocative “Orange Is the New Black” and the psychotropic “Russian Doll,” now plays a retro-revamped Columbo figure in “Poker Face.” Idris Elba, once the macroeconomics-student gangster Stringer Bell in “The Wire,” more recently starred in “Hijack,” a by-the-numbers airplane thriller.

I’ve watched all of these shows. They’re not bad. They’re simply … mid. Which is what makes them, frustratingly, as emblematic of the current moment in TV as their stars’ previous shows were of the ambitions of the past.

What we have now is a profusion of well-cast, sleekly produced competence. We have tasteful remakes of familiar titles. We have the evidence of healthy budgets spent on impressive locations. We have good-enough new shows that resemble great old ones.

We have entered the golden age of Mid TV.

LET ME SAY UP FRONT: This is not an essay about how bad TV is today. Just the opposite. There is little truly bad high-profile television made anymore. As I wrote last year , these days it takes a special confluence of celebrity pull and network resources to make a dud like HBO’s “The Idol.” When we encounter a majestic prize turkey like this in the wild, we almost don’t know what to think. Who did this? How did this get past quality control?

What we have today instead is something less awful but in a way more sad: The willingness to retreat, to settle, to trade the ambitious for the dependable.

People who grew up in the three-broadcast-network era — we knew from bad TV. We watched it and sometimes even loved it. (ABC’s 1977 comedy “The San Pedro Beach Bums” was one of TV’s biggest punchlines, and its cancellation was one of the first heartbreaks of my young life.) But the rise of cable transformed both the business and the art of television, as the likes of HBO, FX and AMC took risks and offered creators freedom in order to stand out.

It worked — so well, in fact, that eventually the truism that TV was garbage was replaced by the truism that TV was the new literature, or cinema, or maybe even religion. A New York Times critic heralded “The Sopranos” as possibly the greatest work of pop culture in a quarter century. “Deadwood” was likened to Shakespeare, “The Wire” to Dickens, “Mad Men” to Cheever. People deconstructed “Lost” and argued over “Girls.” TV’s auteurs bestrode the cultural conversation like the easy riders and raging bulls of film in the 1970s.

For a good two decades now, it’s been bien-pensant wisdom that TV could be good — no, not just good. Original. Provocative. Important.

TV was so highly acclaimed for so long that we were like the frog in boiling water, but in reverse. The medium became lukewarm so gradually that you might not even have noticed.

The streaming era at first promised more innovation, supercharged and superfunded, and for a while that’s what we got. Eager to establish a catalog of original programming, Netflix underwrote experiments like “Orange Is the New Black,” “BoJack Horseman” and “Sense8.” Not everything worked, and what did work could be inconsistent, but there was a sense of opportunity and possibility.

But another thing happened as well. The conferral of status (and money) on TV meant that there was a lot more talent available. Doing TV was no longer a demotion, and you could buy an instant sense of importance by hiring stars. Netflix’s early hit “House of Cards” was a harbinger, a pot of boiling ham given the aura of prestige with the casting of a pre-scandal Kevin Spacey.

Also, more streamers — Netflix was joined by Amazon, Hulu and sundry Maxes and Pluses — simply meant more TV. More TV was better in some ways: It meant room for new voices and untold stories, more dice to roll. But it also created a sense of overload. In a seemingly infinite sea of story, how would viewers find shows, and shows get found?

More and more often, they’d get found through the algorithm, whose purpose is to serve up new versions of the last thing you watched. Increasingly, the best way to get noticed was with something people already recognized: A familiar title, formula or franchise.

Disney+’s Marvel Cinematic Universe series are too polished to be awful or tacky — just compare them to the threadbare comic-book dramas of the ’70s and ’80s — but they are too bound by the rules and needs of the larger megaproperty to take creative leaps. (It’s noteworthy that the first of these series, “WandaVision,” remains the one significant exception.) Meanwhile, Netflix’s “Ozark” showed that you could ask, “What if ChatGPT rewrote ‘Breaking Bad’?” and enough people would embrace the result as if it were “Breaking Bad.”

Put these two forces together — a rising level of talent and production competence on the one hand, the pressure to deliver versions of something viewers already like on the other hand — and what do you get? You get a whole lot of Mid.

MID IS NOT the mediocre TV of the past. It’s more upscale. It is the aesthetic equivalent of an Airbnb “modern farmhouse” renovation, or the identical hipster cafe found in medium-sized cities all over the planet. It’s nice! The furniture is tasteful, they’re playing Khruangbin on the speakers, the shade-grown coffee is an improvement on the steaming mug of motor oil you’d have settled for a few decades ago.

If comparing TV to fast-casual dining is an insulting analogy, in my defense I only borrowed it. A New Yorker profile last year quoted a Netflix executive describing the platform’s ideal show as a “gourmet cheeseburger.”

I’m not going to lie, I enjoy a gourmet cheeseburger. Caramelize some onions, lay on a slice of artisanal American cheese and I’m happy. But at heart, the sales pitch for that cheeseburger is no different from that for a Big Mac: You know what you’re going to get.

And it’s not only Netflix plating this up. Look at the star-packed algorithm bait we’ve seen over the past year or so. There’s “Masters of the Air,” a well-credentialed, superfluous expansion to the World War II-verse of “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” (Liked those? Watch this next!) “Apples Never Fall,” a room-temperature adaptation of another Liane Moriarty novel. (Liked “Big Little Lies”? Watch this next!) “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans,” a fall-from-grace biopic cast to the hilt and padded to the limit. (Liked “Fosse/Verdon”? Watch this next!).

These shows don’t have what it takes to be truly bad. Making honestly bad TV requires a mercenary, Barnumesque disregard for taste, or a hellbent willingness to take the kind of gamble that can turn into disaster.

Mid TV, on the other hand, almost can’t be bad for some of the same reasons that keep it from being great. It’s often an echo of the last generation of breakthrough TV (so the highs and lows of “Game of Thrones” are succeeded by the faithful adequacy of “House of the Dragon” ). Or it’s made by professionals who know how to make TV too well, and therefore miss a prerequisite of making great art, which is training yourself to forget how the thing was ever done and thus coming up with your own way of doing it.

Mid is not a strict genre with a universal definition. But it’s what you get when you raise TV’s production values and lower its ambitions. It reminds you a little of something you once liked a lot. It substitutes great casting for great ideas. (You really liked the star in that other thing! You can’t believe they got Meryl Streep !)

Mid is based on a well-known book or movie or murder. Mid looks great on a big screen. (Though for some reason everything looks blue .) Mid was shot on location in multiple countries. Mid probably could have been a couple episodes shorter. Mid is fine, though. It’s good enough.

Above all, Mid is easy. It’s not dumb easy — it shows evidence that its writers have read books. But the story beats are familiar. Plot points and themes are repeated. You don’t have to immerse yourself single-mindedly the way you might have with, say, “The Wire.” It is prestige TV that you can fold laundry to.

And let’s be fair, it makes plenty of people happy. Any honest critic has to recognize that people for whom TV-watching is not work do not always want to work at watching TV. (See, for instance, the unlikely resurgence on Netflix of “Suits,” that watchable avatar of 2010s basic-cable Mid.) I get it. TV critics have laundry to fold, too.

There may also be economic reasons to prefer good-enough TV. As more people drop cable TV for streaming, their incentives change. With cable you bought a package of channels, many of which you would never watch, but any of which you might .

Each streaming platform, on the other hand, requires a separate purchase decision , and they add up. You might well choose a service that has plenty of shows you’d be willing to watch rather than one with a single show that you must watch.

So where HBO used to boast that it was “not TV,” modern streamers send the message, “We’ll give you a whole lot of TV.” It can seem like their chief goal is less to produce standout shows than to produce a lot of good-looking thumbnails.

There even is a growing idea that a new Golden Age is emerging, with a new Midas. Apple TV+, the home of “Ted Lasso” and “The Morning Show,” has been deemed, by more than one commentator, “the new HBO.”

Apple TV+ is not HBO. At least not in the sense of what made HBO HBO in the 2000s, when it was revolutionizing TV and challenging viewers. (And HBO wasn’t alone in being “HBO” in this sense: It had company in FX, AMC, Showtime and occasionally Syfy and others.)

But Apple TV+ just might be the HBO of Mid.

Broadly generalizing, Apple’s strategy has been to open its checkbook and sign up A-list names — Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, M. Night Shyamalan — to make broadly palatable, uncontroversial shows. (This did not work out too well with Jon Stewart .) According to reports around its founding, the Apple chief Tim Cook was concerned that the service not go overboard with violence, profanity and nudity — not exactly the mission statement of somebody looking to reopen the Bada Bing.

Apple’s investment bought something. Its shows feel professional. They look like premium products that no one skimped on. “Palm Royale” has a loaded cast (Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern, Carol Burnett[!]) and an attention to period detail that recalls “Mad Men.” But its class farce is toothless, its atmosphere of ’60s cultural ferment warmed over. Comedies like “Shrinking” and “Platonic” and “Loot” are more nice than funny, dramas like “Constellation,” “The New Look” and “Manhunt” classy but inert.

These are shows built like iPhones — sleek, rounded, with no edges you can cut yourself on.

THERE IS, OF COURSE, great and innovative TV on Apple as well. I’m dying to see another season of the brain-bending sci-fi thriller “Severance,” and its first crop of shows included the alternative space-race history “For All Mankind” and the screwball literary history “Dickinson.”

It is exceptions like these series that make me an optimist about TV long-term. Even in the face of pressures and incentives to aim for the middle, creativity wants to find a way. Just a year ago, I was writing about wild, adventurous series like “Beef,” “Reservation Dogs,” “Mrs. Davis” and “I’m a Virgo.” (This year, two of the best new dramas so far are a remake of “Shogun” and a re-adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”)

But the bulk of TV right now — the packing peanuts that fill up the space between “The Bear” and “FBoy Island” — feels flattened out in the broad middle. No, not flattened: Smoothed. That may be the biggest but most intangible defining feature of Mid. It’s friction-free. It has an A.I.-like, uncanny luster, like the too-sharp motion-smoothing effect that you have to turn off when you buy a new flat-screen.

TV is far from broken, but it does feel like someone needs to go in and tweak the settings. The price of reliability, competence and algorithm-friendliness is losing the sense of surprise — the unmoored feeling you get, from innovations like “Fleabag” and “Watchmen” and “I May Destroy You,” of being thrown into an unpredictable alien universe.

I don’t think it’s only critics and TV snobs who want this, either. “The Sopranos” and “Twin Peaks” were revolutionary and rewarded close viewing, but they were also popular. Even if you watch TV as escapism, how much of an escape is a show that you can, and probably will, half-watch while also doomscrolling on your phone?

We lose something when we become willing to settle. Reliability is a fine quality in a hybrid sedan. But in art, it has a cost. A show that can’t disappoint you can’t surprise you. A show that can’t enrage you can’t engage you.

The good news is, there is still TV willing to take chances, if you look for it. You may have loved or hated “The Curse,” but I would be surprised if anyone who watched an hour of it ended up indifferent to it. This month, HBO premiered “The Sympathizer,” Park Chan-wook’s frenetic adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s satire of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, a raucous, disorienting rush down the back alleys of memory.

With risk, of course, comes the possibility of disappointment — you might get another “The Idol.” I’m willing to accept the trade-off. The price of making TV that’s failure-proof, after all, is getting TV that can never really succeed. Come back, bad TV: All is forgiven.

James Poniewozik is the chief TV critic for The Times. He writes reviews and essays with an emphasis on television as it reflects a changing culture and politics. More about James Poniewozik

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

The Netflix stalker series “ Baby Reindeer ” combines the appeal of a twisty thriller with a deep sense of empathy. The ending illustrates why it’s become such a hit .

We have entered the golden age of Mid TV, where we have a profusion of well-cast, sleekly produced competence, our critic writes .

The writer-director Alex Garland has made it clear that “Civil War” should be a warning. Instead, the ugliness of war comes across as comforting thrills .

Studios obsessively focused on PG-13 franchises and animation in recent years, but movies like “Challengers” and “Saltburn” show that Hollywood is embracing sex again .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Advertisement