While some advocates are proposing to lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18, the Insurance Industry for Highway Safety says that states should raise the driving age from 16 to 17 or 18, the Associated Press reported Sept. 9.

"The bottom line is that when we look at the research, raising the driving age saves lives," said institute president Adrian Lund, who says that car crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. The insurance industry says that data from New Jersey -- the only state that requires teens to wait until age 17 to get a driver's license -- shows a lower rate of crash-related deaths among 16- and 17-year-olds than in other nearby states.

Teens chafed at the idea of a delay in their ability to drive, and some parents said that kids should not remain dependent on others to drive them around.

Some states have graduated licenses that allow teens to gain driving privileges gradually, while others have imposed tough rules on teen drivers regarding alcohol use, driving while on the cell phone, and other potential hazards.

Karen Sternheimer, a University of Southern California sociologist, suggested that the focus on teens could obscure larger issues around road safety, noting that adults ages 25 to 24 and 45 to 64 were almost twice as likely to be involved in alcohol-related traffic fatalities than those ages 16 to 20. "The intense focus on teens diverts our attention from the real threats to public safety: speeding and driving while intoxicated," she said.