Every young person's maturity level is different, I guess.

as 16 is the age when many kids get jobs and need to be able to drive to them
I do believe most cities have buses. My daughter is 31 and had a brain tumor at the age of 16, so she can't drive. She takes the bus EVERYWHERE, so HAVING to drive to a job really isn't a very good argument. That is unless you live way out in the boonies where the buses don't run. That's a totally different story. When I was 16, I didn't have my license yet, so had to take the bus. I didn't get it till I was almost 18, then bought my own car with my own money.

Ahem, that WAS of course way back when a brand new '73 VW Beetle cost a total of $2400 including license, tax, etc.