In the Driver’s Seat

In the Driver’s Seat

Curtis Benford

November 30, 2020

Teenagers who take driver education classes are less likely to be involved in crashes or to get a ticket during their first two years of driving. Teen crashes and fatality rates are highest among 16- to 18-year old drivers.

Most teenagers do not think about anything other than their social life, what sporting event they have to attend next, or where they plan on taking their date on Friday night. A lot of teenagers are very self-involved. I do not think that they mean to cause injury or death to someone, often times they just do not think about the consequences of their actions. They are more concerned about what happened at lunch that day or who was not talking to whom at school. Most teenagers who are in accidents are distracted. They are on their cell phone talking, on their cell phone texting someone, listening to the radio too loudly, or just thinking about something else entirely.

Another thing to think about is that one out of ten high school students drinks and drives. Younger drivers are 17 times more likely to die in a crash when they a blood alcohol concentration of .08% than when they have not been drinking. High school students aged 16 years and older who, when surveyed, said they had driven a vehicle one or more times during the past 30 days when they had been drinking alcohol.

Like I said earlier, I do not think teenagers mean to cause accidents, they just need to be made aware. There are also precautions that parents can take to keep their teenagers safe. My plan to reduce the number of deaths by driver education is as follows:

1. Parents should ride an additional 100 hours with their children besides the time required in driver’s training. Teenagers will not be distracted when they are driving with their parents. This will cause good driving habits. Parents can make helpful suggestions on how their children can improve their driving.

2. Parents should also practice driving with their kids during all types of weather and during all times of the day or night. This will get their teen more experienced in driving and the confidence to drive on bad roads.

3. Parents should have a zero tolerance rule with their children regarding their cell phones. There are apps that parents can track if their child is using their phone while driving. If their child is using their phone while driving, they get their phone taken away permanently. Parents should have a driving agreement so their child knows the driving dos and don’ts of what to do and not do when driving.

4. There are also apps parents can use to monitor their child’s driving. If they show any type of wild driving or distracted driving patterns, parents can take away their vehicle.

5. Kids need to be made aware of the minimum drinking age and the zero tolerance laws regarding drinking and driving. They should know if they hurt someone drinking and driving they will go to prison most likely. Kids should have to tour a prison and stay there for an entire day to see what prison life is like. Most kids would not want to drink and drive after learning about life in prison.

6. Kids should also have to tour the city morgue to show what happens when people drive distracted. I think this would be a wakeup call for many teenagers and nobody would drive distracted after witnessing a dead body. Teenagers need to see actual consequences of what could happen to someone.

I was in one accident. A lady ran a red light and hit my card broadside. Her daughter suffered some minor injuries. She was texting on her phone. However, she was well over 40 years old so she should have known better. I think the steps I listed above would make not only teenagers become better drivers, but people of all ages become better drivers. Most people just need to be educated and see the actual real-life consequences of what could happen to them or someone else if they do not pay attention.