HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAAY) - Studies show that raising the age for full driver's licenses to 17 or 18 saves lives, but teenagers aren't happy about having to wait to get behind the wheel.

Courtney Ward is a sophmore at Buckhorn High School. She had mixed reactions about the results of a recent study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found fewer teens died when the age for full licensure is higher.

"The bad thing is that you're punishing people that are more mature to drive, and they're mad because you're punishing them," Ward said. "The good thing is that people who are less mature than others will be off the road and not hurting anybody or wrecking."

But some teens said they still think 16 is a good age.

"Most teens that are 16 are mature enough to handle it," said high school junior Kelsey Pennington. "The main reason why they get into an accident is mainly the lack of practice and not paying attention."

It's a scary statistic but very real that traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among teens.

"You know, everybody's in school and you don't want them to get hurt or killed, " said driver's education instructor Al Rauls. "It's pretty scary to think about it.

Rauls has been been a drivers education teacher for 25 years. He said he's not sure if raising the age limit would matter. He said driver's safety depends on maturity and experience.

"I still think about the lives of the kids out on the road and haven't had a lot of experience," Rauls said. "And without that experience, it's an accident waiting to happen. There are some kids right now I would not give a license to at 16 years of age because they're not ready maturity wise and inexperienced."

The study also showed that states with a higher requirements have fewer teen deaths. Just a few years ago, Alabama went to graduated licensing, making the requirements tougher and also requiring parents to spend more time with their teens beyond just taking a driver's education course.

Reporter: Haley Baker
Web Editor: Dana Franks

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