I’m sure we’ve all heard that motor vehicle accidents are
the leading cause of teenage deaths in the United States. In fact, the risk of motor vehicle accidents are
highest among 16-19 year olds. This age group is three times more likely than drivers, aged 20 and older, to
be in a fatal crash. Among these teens, those especially at risk
are:
Male Drivers - the vehicle
death rate for male drivers and passengers, ages 16 to 19, was almost two times
that of females in that same age group. This
is a crazy stat!
Teens who drive with other
teens – this makes sense. The crash risk
increases significantly when a teen driver is driving with another teen in the
car. Not only that, but the risk
increases further when the number of teen passengers increases.
Newly licensed drivers –
Yes, those new behind the wheel are at higher risk. LACK OF EXPERIENCE!!
Now throw the texting,
music, make-up and lattes into the equation.
This is serious business.
You know the question that’s
coming…Should the age at which our teens are allowed to obtain their license be
raised?
Having read a boatload of
stats, and being a parent of two teenage daughters…my vote is RAISE IT or MAKE
SOME CHANGES. My theory is if only 56%
percent of our teenage drivers are smart enough to wear their seat belt, these
kids have no business behind the wheel of a car.
Every state has their driving regulations, but does this mean that teens in Missouri are any different than
teens in FL? Teens are teens no matter
where they live. What surprised me is there
are actually states that allow you to get your permit at age 14.5 and your
license at 15. Really?? Most states consider your initial license a ‘restricted
license’, meaning you may have curfew or only allowed so many passengers in
your vehicle. It’s still a license.
I know not all teen drivers are
irresponsible, and I understand that they don’t get behind a wheel and
say, ‘I want to cause an accident today’.
However, I personally feel some changes need to be made. I’m going to stir it up a bit, but I want your
thoughts in return. If I had my way this
is what I’d start with:
- Learner’s permit at 16 (14 and 15 are entirely too young)
- Mandatory Driver’s Education Course that you must pass…A classroom course, not an ‘on-line’ course.
- 1 year of supervised driving that your parent needs to sign off on, stating the teen has obtained a required number of hours behind the wheel.
- Restricted license at 17 – meaning you still have curfew, restricted number of passengers, etc.
- Full license at 19 – and if there have been traffic violations between 17 and 19, then theFull License should be pushed back to 20.
In closing, let me ask
this: Do you feel the type of car a new teen
driver has, impacts the risks (i.e. a Camaro vs. a Ford Edge)? What say you?
References:
http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html
http://parentingteens.about.com/od/teendriving/a/Driving-Age-by-State.htm
All of your rule proposals are completely ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteMaryland's laws are this strict.
ReplyDelete1. You can get a learners permit at 15 and 9 months
2. You have to take a class with 30 hours of in class instruction and 6 hours of behind the wheel instruction
3. Learners permit held for 9 months with minimum of 60 hours of parent instruction (or someone 21 years or older with at least 3 years experience) with 6 hours being at night.
4. Then you hold a provisionals license for 18 months with no one other than direct family allowed to ride for first 6 months, and there's the midnight curfew.
5. After everything you would be at the minimum 18 years old exactly when you get your full license.
6. Also the driving skills test for the provisionals license has parallel parking, the reverse two point turn, and driving on public roads.