Levine, Irene S. “When Teens Take the Wheel: Car crashes kill more teens than any other cause of death. Learn how to protect young drivers,”  Ladies Home Journal, June, 2005, p. 80.

 

OVERVIEW

 

•  Teens are four times as likely to be involved in fatal crashes than drivers over 25.

•  Those just 16 are five times as likely.

•  Fatal accidents involving boys at the wheel outnumber those for girls two to one.

•  Nearly 5,000 teens annually die in U. S. car crashes, making this the No. 1 cause of
        death among this age group and the first 500 miles of a teen's driving are the most dangerous of all.

 

This writer explains that various States have taken action to reduce this human carnage. “Graduated licenses” place restrictions on 16-year-old drivers (no night driving, practice driving of 25 to 50 hours with a parent, requiring driver’s education).

 

Vice President of research for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that parental involvement is key. There should be insistence on buckling up every time, warning about speeding and drinking in graphic terms (crash videos can serve as a “wake-up call”) to begin with Three guidelines are especially given to parents.

 

Pick the right car. Focus on safety, not image. Large cars, station wagons and minivans offer best protection over SUVs and compact sporty models (so popular with teenagers—see (www.safercar.gov).

 

 

Drive with you teen. “Parents should spend at least 40 hours in the car with their teen in a range of driving conditions, including night driving,” says Karen Gravelle, author of The Driving Book: Everything New Drivers Need to Know But Don’t Know To Ask. Emphasize speed limits and other road rules. Put your rules into a contact.

 

 

Make it clear that a car is not a social club.  The risk of death doubles when there is a second teen in the car with a teen driver and quadruples when there are three or more.  (Gravelle advises knowing your teenage driver’s friends, both as drivers and passengers.) Do not hesitate to veto your teen’s riding with a teen your distrust. Be ready to revoke driving privileges.

 

The crunch on school budgets has shrunk the percentage of schools offering driver’s ed to 25%. Jeff Payne is a former race car driver and founder of Driver’s Edge (www.driversedge.org). This program tries to “teach teens strategies for handling scary situations. Payne encourages practice with a parent.

 

It’s all about practice. The goal is to give them emergency experience so they don’t panic when they’re in a crisis.

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

 

1.   How many factors can you give as to why a driver’s license so important to a teenage driver? How could you describe their many feelings as they approach driving on their own?

2.   Do parents and others have a right to be concerned about new teenage drivers?  Why or why not?

 

3.   What are some of the best ways that parents, schools, a community, and even a youth group could help ensure new drivers’ safety?

 

4.   What are the most important things for a new driver to learn?

 

IMPLICATIONS

 

1.   Relatively little has been written about this subject so critical to the health and well-being of young people.

 

2,   Besides the young drivers and passengers killed in accidents, there are those paralyzed for life—and those who bear the guilt or horror of a fatal accident throughout their lives.

 

3.   Sadly youthful drivers can feel invincible and parents can be in denial even after a terrible accident in town—and the knowledge that kids continue to drink and drive.

 

Dean Borgman   c. CYS