At What Age Should Our Teenagers Learn To Drive???

Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, Kylie Jenner, 16, crashed her $125,000 Mercedes-Benz SUV on Tuesday in Calabasas, California, just 18 days after getting her license.  Kylie was driving her new wheels around Calabasas when she slammed into the back of a Toyota which then subsequently hit a Volkswagen SUV. I guess its safe to say Kylie has grown up rather quickly due to being in the spotlight on her reality TV show Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

My dear friends 13 yea- old cousin has been eager to get into the drivers seat also. On Wednesday did just that and then she pressed the accelerator instead of the brakes and rammed into a parked two- month-old Hyundai Accent and a Toyota Corolla. The Hyundais’ bumper was destroyed the Toyota was damaged and had moved several inched from where it was originally parked. When the owners came out and saw their cars they flipped and you can imagine what happened next---She cried.

This girl was really eager to start driving and I guess that is natural, my brothers started teaching me to drive when I was 16. But the question still remains “When should we start giving or allowing driving lessons. Some people feel that a 13 year-old is too young others might feel that if she is curious it’s safer to teach her to do it properly even if she won’t be allowed to drive on the streets. 

I believe that kids should be able to learn and prepare to drive with obvious supervision and somewhere where no one else would be; like an open field. But otherwise they should not be allowed to drive on roads unsupervised. Call me old fashioned but I like the having to wait till your 18 to get your license rule.

Driving involves making lots of decisions which have repercussions and is a responsibility. By definition a 13 year old in our society is not generally mature enough for this burden of responsibility. Young teenagers constantly make bad choices - small ones but bad ones - it's all part of growing up and it's fine - however to make those same bad decision behind the wheel of a car would turn them into dangerous machines. they should learn, but not be out on the streets.

Ijeoma Olujekun