The minimum legal age for driving a car or motorbike

Some people think that the best way to improve road safety is to increase the minimum legal age for driving a car or motorbike.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Model Solution to the IELTS Essay on the Legal Age for Driving

A number of people believe that increasing the minimum permissible age for driving motor vehicles can be an effective solution to ensure road safety. However, I do not agree with this statement. In this essay, I will discuss that minimum age is not the only risk factor for accidents on the road, but drinking is a more responsible factor.

To begin, driving is a skill that can be learned at any age. As long as the individual is physically competent in controlling the vehicle, he or she is as capable of driving a car or motorcycle as an adult. Accidents occur primarily as a result of a driver’s lack of concentration. For instance, texting or accepting a call while driving increases the risk of an accident. Regardless of age, a person can lose balance over the vehicle in such scenarios. There are only a few instances in which a minor is the driver of a vehicle involved in a traffic accident.

Apart from that, the majority of traffic accidents are caused by drunk driving. In the majority of countries, the minimum age for drinking is already higher than the minimum age for driving. Thus, it may be argued that more adults are responsible for road accidents than there are minor drivers and riders. Thus, there is no correlation between age and road accidents, and raising the minimum age for driving cars and motorcycles is unlikely to help much; rather, individuals need to be educated about the dangers of drinking and driving.

In conclusion, raising the minimum driving age is less effective than preventing people from drinking and driving.