Yahoo Autos Pennsylvania Wants 15-Year-Olds to Drive so They Can Get to Work
Two representatives in the Pennsylvania State House want to allow 15-year-olds in their state to be able to drive to their jobs, because hey, a teenager has got to eat.
Democtraic Representative Stephen Kinsey and Republican Eric R. Nelson cited Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia laws as the inspiration for the move, according to WTAE:
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Reps. Stephen Kinsey (D-Philadelphia) and Eric R. Nelson (R-Greensburg) said in a memorandum that they want to see 15-year-olds hit the state’s roadways, ending “arbitrary age discrimination.”
The proposed legislation would change the age of eligibility for a junior driver’s license to 15 years old and establish an age of eligibility of 15 years old for a learner’s permit.
“Working teens learn accountability while contributing to their communities,” Kinsey and Nelson said. Citing limits because of the commonwealth’s current age minimum of 16, they said, “If Pennsylvania teens wish to work and are legally permitted to do so, they should not be denied the right to travel to their place of employment.”
“Arbitrary age discrimination” is an interesting term for the representatives from Pennsylvania to use. As it is, there is nothing arbitrary about limiting the freedoms a still-developing brain has when it comes to piloting a one-ton kinetic death missile on their own. Car crashes are still one of the biggest killers of teens in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control. Over 2,800 died in 2020 alone, with some 227,000 seriously injured.
Those states that the two Pennsylvania lawmakers lauded for their low driving age—Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio—also have much higher rates of fatal crashes than Pennsylvania, according to the National Safety Council. While Pennsylvania experienced 9.7 crash-deaths per 100,000 people in 2020, West Virginia had 17.0, Ohio had 11.7 and Maryland had 10.4. Not exactly states you want to look to while rehashing your traffic laws.
And it gets worse: Now that even used cars cost a practically unattainable amount for teens, they’re more likely to be saddled with unsafe cars when they’re able to drive at all. Rising insurance costs—already a headache with a teen driver—also pose a barrier to kids getting behind the wheel.
