Having sex and driving a motor vehicle both demand a lot of energy and responsibility. Which one do you believe demands the greatest responsibility and accountability? I pose this question because the laws of our country confuse the issue. According to our laws, the age of maturity – when someone can vote, become legally independent and drive a car – is 18. However, the age for sexual consent – when a person can legally consent to have sex – is 16.

This means that a 16-year-old is old enough to independently decide to have sex, but not responsible enough to drive a car. It is also illegal for a person under 18 to purchase alcoholic beverages. The reasoning seems to be that an unmarried 16-year-old teenager has more intellectual acumen, reasoning power and maturity to have sex, than an 18-year-old does to vote for the destiny of our nation and to drive a dangerous machine – the car – and to purchase a bottle of beer.

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