I called my boyfriend, panicking. My hands were shaking, my heart was pounding. “Please God, not him. Please.”
He picked up. “Hello?” Thank God. He was okay. He was home safe. He wasn’t hurt.
Twenty minutes earlier, my boyfriend’s best friend got into a car accident. A friend I knew he was with that night. A friend I didn’t know was a reckless driver, reckless enough for my boyfriend to go home early for fear of being hurt. And thank God he did.
Wilson, my boyfriend’s friend, was t-boned in the rain in the middle of the night, the rain blocked his vision, and he turned left into a truck’s path, the truck slamming into the passenger side of the vehicle, totaling the car and breaking Wilson’s collarbone. This was only two and a half months ago.
By the grace of God, my boyfriend had left 10 minutes before the accident because of Wilson’s driving. He said he was swerving, going way too fast, making him anxious. And so, he asked to be picked up by his mom early, and Wilson left, driving on his own. Just 20 minutes before this, two other people in the car, John and Sean, by some coincidental circumstances, felt ill or had to go home early as well. If any of them had been in the car, with a high chance of being on the passenger side, they would have been killed.
If, by some miraculous circumstances, those three boys hadn’t left early or exited the car, the mistakes and negligence of one person could have put them all at risk. And I can only imagine the impact it would have had on families, friends, and communities. The anxiety I felt knowing my boyfriend could have been in that car, pales in comparison to others fearing for their sons, for their daughters, for their sisters and brothers.
In 2022, 56% of teens killed in a motor vehicle accident, were a passenger in a vehicle driven by another teenager. In the same year, 13% of motor vehicle deaths were when a teenager was driving. In the same year, “62% of deaths among passenger vehicle occupants ages 16-19 were drivers,” according to the IIHS. In the same year, teenage motor vehicle crash deaths occurred mostly in the late evening and night, with 20% of deaths being between 9 and 12 pm, followed by 16% of motor vehicle deaths being between 6 and 9 pm.
These statistics, however frightening, have been lowering steadily since the beginning of the 1980s. Rates of crashes among males has decreased 70%, and the rate of crashes for females has decreased in the same amount of time about 60%. This is a significant decrease, and we see that in the numbers, with the amount of men and women dying in car crashes in 1984 (ages 16-19) being 4,947 and 2,005, respectively. In 2020, the numbers were 1,887 and 873, respectively.
So, what are we doing to decrease these numbers? Are we implementing more laws? Are we increasing the thoroughness of the driver’s education courses? Are we increasing the difficulty of it? What about the consumption of alcohol? Does this have an effect? Is the consumption of alcohol in teens decreasing, and is that the reason for the lowering statistics? According to the IIHS, the consumption rate of alcohol for teens is lower than adults, but their crash rate is much higher in the case of consumption. The percentage of fatally injured passengers in 2022 ages 16-17 who were under the influence was 22%, which decreased 47% since 1982. So evidently, something is happening to lower these statistics.
I think to remedy this, driver’s education (or some form of driving course) should be taught in schools. Ideally at the age where children are legally able to learn to drive (which in the US is 14) there should be a mandatory driving administered to children who are learning to drive, one that is not hinged on the funds of the parents, given the current drivers ed requires funding from the parents/guardians of the driver, or the driver to fund it themselves.
I think that, on top of requiring some semblance of retaking the driver’s test, depending on multiple factors, would be beneficial. When I say drivers test, I specifically mean the physical driving test with an instructor. The retaking of the test and how often it happens could depend on multiple factors; such as driving record, disabilities, age, and insurance rates. Maybe the teen death rates in car accidents would go down, if teens were required to retake the driver’s test every year, or every other year.
He picked up. “Hello?” Thank God. He was okay. He was home safe. He wasn’t hurt.
Twenty minutes earlier, my boyfriend’s best friend got into a car accident. A friend I knew he was with that night. A friend I didn’t know was a reckless driver, reckless enough for my boyfriend to go home early for fear of being hurt. And thank God he did.
Wilson, my boyfriend’s friend, was t-boned in the rain in the middle of the night, the rain blocked his vision, and he turned left into a truck’s path, the truck slamming into the passenger side of the vehicle, totaling the car and breaking Wilson’s collarbone. This was only two and a half months ago.
By the grace of God, my boyfriend had left 10 minutes before the accident because of Wilson’s driving. He said he was swerving, going way too fast, making him anxious. And so, he asked to be picked up by his mom early, and Wilson left, driving on his own. Just 20 minutes before this, two other people in the car, John and Sean, by some coincidental circumstances, felt ill or had to go home early as well. If any of them had been in the car, with a high chance of being on the passenger side, they would have been killed.
If, by some miraculous circumstances, those three boys hadn’t left early or exited the car, the mistakes and negligence of one person could have put them all at risk. And I can only imagine the impact it would have had on families, friends, and communities. The anxiety I felt knowing my boyfriend could have been in that car, pales in comparison to others fearing for their sons, for their daughters, for their sisters and brothers.
In 2022, 56% of teens killed in a motor vehicle accident, were a passenger in a vehicle driven by another teenager. In the same year, 13% of motor vehicle deaths were when a teenager was driving. In the same year, “62% of deaths among passenger vehicle occupants ages 16-19 were drivers,” according to the IIHS. In the same year, teenage motor vehicle crash deaths occurred mostly in the late evening and night, with 20% of deaths being between 9 and 12 pm, followed by 16% of motor vehicle deaths being between 6 and 9 pm.
These statistics, however frightening, have been lowering steadily since the beginning of the 1980s. Rates of crashes among males has decreased 70%, and the rate of crashes for females has decreased in the same amount of time about 60%. This is a significant decrease, and we see that in the numbers, with the amount of men and women dying in car crashes in 1984 (ages 16-19) being 4,947 and 2,005, respectively. In 2020, the numbers were 1,887 and 873, respectively.
So, what are we doing to decrease these numbers? Are we implementing more laws? Are we increasing the thoroughness of the driver’s education courses? Are we increasing the difficulty of it? What about the consumption of alcohol? Does this have an effect? Is the consumption of alcohol in teens decreasing, and is that the reason for the lowering statistics? According to the IIHS, the consumption rate of alcohol for teens is lower than adults, but their crash rate is much higher in the case of consumption. The percentage of fatally injured passengers in 2022 ages 16-17 who were under the influence was 22%, which decreased 47% since 1982. So evidently, something is happening to lower these statistics.
I think to remedy this, driver’s education (or some form of driving course) should be taught in schools. Ideally at the age where children are legally able to learn to drive (which in the US is 14) there should be a mandatory driving administered to children who are learning to drive, one that is not hinged on the funds of the parents, given the current drivers ed requires funding from the parents/guardians of the driver, or the driver to fund it themselves.
I think that, on top of requiring some semblance of retaking the driver’s test, depending on multiple factors, would be beneficial. When I say drivers test, I specifically mean the physical driving test with an instructor. The retaking of the test and how often it happens could depend on multiple factors; such as driving record, disabilities, age, and insurance rates. Maybe the teen death rates in car accidents would go down, if teens were required to retake the driver’s test every year, or every other year.
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