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At the bagel shop, the mood was somber. One of us at the table had a teenager eligible to get a driver’s license. I do not know of a more frightening moment for parents. We sat with heads bowed calling upon the higher powers to protect the child and to protect us from this child on the road. “Dear Lord, please give common sense to this child.” The parent added, “And, make my child take the common sense.” At that moment, the child, who was at school prayed, “Dear Lord, please make sure I can drive my first car to school with my head held high and, even better, race it in the Indy 500.” The child wants something that sacrifices safety for style and power. Why do we let them drive at 16? We have many reasons -- not the least being that we were allowed to drive at 16. Was it a good idea then? Is it a good idea now? No. The reason most often cited is that it is convenient for the parents when the kids can drive themselves. Let’s substitute the word “airplane” for “car” to see if it makes sense. It is more convenient to let my child fly an airplane, even if my child acts like a knucklehead from lack of maturity. Convenience? Sounds at the very least like negligence. Why is it that insurance companies demand a king’s ransom to insure teen drivers and, truth be told, would prefer not to issue policies to many teenagers? Because young drivers, in general, are inept in traffic. I concede that there are plenty of old, bad drivers. But, if you want to see really terrible drivers, look no further than the parking lots at high schools. What causes accidents? Impatience and the inability to think ahead, which describe most young drivers. The accident statistics condemn all of us for letting them on the road in the first place. The price they pay for insurance is many times higher than for older drivers. Imagine paying $4,000 a year insurance. Why? Is it a scheme to cheat young drivers? Hardly, it is that young drivers have many more accidents and the accidents they have are more catastrophic. We are so concerned with our young’s ability to write a three-page account of the Punic Wars that we miss the number one killer of young people today. They are unable to operate a vehicle safely. We spend so much time building self-esteem that we miss the implications of their dying before graduation. I know your 16-year old would not drive recklessly, at least while you are watching. It is a dilemma. If you are too careful, you lose the affection of your 16-year old. If you are not careful enough, you lose your 16-year old. Two options to deal with teen drivers: Maybe raise the driving age to 18 and high school graduation. Use it as an incentive to graduate. You won’t lose several students a year from each high school to traffic deaths. It’s a win win situation for everyone, except the parents, who will bear the brunt of their kids’ anger. Or, secondly, have a well-publicized “One strike and you are out” policy. One accident or one ticket and the driving age jumps for that teen driver to 18. Our young drivers will be very angry when we enforce such rules. Still, the hardest thing in life is when we have to bury a child. Dear Lord, please bring some sense to this society that lets these kids perish in car accidents because it is convenient. © 2001 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. |
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