Opinion Writing -- By Shafra Hassan, Ghaazee School, Hulhumale' , Grade 10 S2

Question
There is a proposal in your country to raise the legal age for learning to drive a car by five years. Do you think this is a good idea? Write a letter to your local newspaper, giving your views. You should write about 150 to 200 words.

Dear Editor,
I would like to express my concern on the issue of raising the legal age for learning to drive a car, by five years. I do not think that this is a sensitive idea and I am sure that many of your readers feel the same way.

Firstly, we have to take into consideration the conditions of the area in which we live in. As train and bus transportation is not frequent in this rural area, driving to places is essential. So the idea of raising the legal driving age is not a good one, and cannot be supported.

The government expects a reduction in the number of traffic jams and road accidents along with the amount of pollutants emitted to the atmosphere. However, raising the legal driving age is not a solution to reach the expectations. This adds another reason, not to put the ‘proposal to raise the legal age for learning to drive by five years’, into action. Furthermore, this proposal takes away a perfect way for young adults to learn to become independent. Taking away this opportunity seems unfair.

We all know that different people have different maturity levels and it has almost nothing to do with age. As this is the case, seventeen year olds should be able to drive to their hearts’ content, as they can sometimes be more mature than thirty year olds.

In brief, I believe that this proposal should be discarded, as soon as possible since it has no benefits or whatsoever to the locals. I hope you would support me on this and bring this serious issue to the government’s notification.

Yours faithfully,

Shafra Hassan