Time to Raise Driving Age?

Is 16 too young to drive? A safety group today began a push to encourage states to follow the lead of Japan, China, Russia, and most of Europe by raising the legal age to 18, the Detroit Free Press reports. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for youths aged 15 to 20, and the numbers have been rising over the last decade.

It’s “a tough sell, but it’s an important enough issue to challenge the silence and at least consider changing the age at which we allow teenagers to get their licenses to drive,” said an official from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The group planned to release its report at a conference of the Governors Highway Safety Association. (More driving stories.)