When you were twelve years old how were you getting from place to place? For most people in the world, it would be bikes, scooters, etc. While for me I was driving a half million-dollar tractor. Being from South Dakota where the driving age limit is so significantly young meant I could drive a tractor worth more than most people’s houses in the U.S. To get your permit in South Dakota you only must be fourteen years old, while farm kids can start driving as young as twelve years old. Most farmers teach their kids to start driving as young as ten years old. Going to drivers’ education classes should be mandatory for anyone that wants to step behind a wheel of any motorized vehicle. Only 31 of the 50 states in America require an in-person drivers education class. Just think of how dangerous that can be, only 62% of the United States takes a driving education course. Getting real world driving conditions like rain, wind, snow, and nighttime driving should be a major part in these driving classes. A minimum of four to six hours spent driving in each of these conditions will get drivers to know how to react to different situations when needed.
When driving a vehicle down the interstate I would like to be driving next to someone that is mature enough to make the right decisions while driving. If the age of drivers all got changed to eighteen or even twenty years old there would be way less fatal vehicle crashes happening. Your brain doesn’t fully developed till about mid to late 20s, even though your brain isn’t fully developed it is more developed than a fourteen-year-olds. There are three times the amount of death from ages 15- 19 than people in their 20s. When I think of a teenager driving, I think of them driving a safe little Kia, not in today’s world. Most teenagers drive big loud, jacked up pickup trucks that are very easily a distraction while driving. If restrictions were put on licenses for what type of vehicles a teenager can drive till, they are a certain age, driving big pickups at such a young age isn’t safe. When one of those big F-350s get out of control it is going to be a bad accident, this would also play a big part in helping to try and reduce the death rate of teens.
With all the advanced technology we have in this world today, why isn’t there built in telematics devices in every new vehicle being made. A telematics device is typically an app that measures details such as mileage, speed, and braking time, as well as where and when you drive. Most insurance companies use these devices to encourage a person to drive better, to get some cheaper insurance. Having a device like this in your children’s vehicle will help them understand what they should do better when driving. Once again if they were mandatory in people’s vehicles, there would be that much more safe drivers out on the roads. Just like the telematics device there is a thing on some of the Ford vehicles called Ford MyKey. This allows you to set restricted driving mode settings on your Ford key that promote safe and responsible driving. This can change how fast you are able to drive, how loud your music can be, and require seatbelt usage. Even just a little parent control being on all teenagers vehicles would change the death rate significantly.
The average number of wrecks a person gets in their life time in the United States is three to four, this may not seem like a lot, but it is when there are 339.9 million people in the United States. Having to experience one of my most loving family members getting into a very bad vehicle crash was the worst thing I ever had to experience. On August 26th at 3:15, my brother was leaving our house to head to football. As he approached the highway right next to the football field, he stopped at the stop sign then proceeded to drive. But little did he know that some kid would be on their phone going twenty over the speed limit straight at him. By the time Jordan noticed the vehicle moving very fast at him it was already too late, he got hit right on the passenger door. Once Jordan got hit by this other vehicle his vehicle started rolling into the powerline a few yards from him. As soon as this kid hit my brother he hurried up and back up and drove off, just leaving my brother to lay pinched in his car because the passenger door was smashed all the way into him. Having to get a call from my parents saying he was in the hospital because someone hit him then drove off was the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard.