Raising age of teen drivers may not be the answer to the problem
My ECM editorial for this week is on the question of raising the drivers licensing age from 16 to perhaps 17 or 18.
I think this is a good topic because the number one cause of teenage deaths is a car crash.
In a two-year study, 2005 and 2007, eighty-one 16 and 17-year olds were killed and 363 injured in car crashes. Drivers 16-19 were involved in crashes resulting in 270 deaths and 1,160 serious injuries.
After thinking through a position on an editorial, I have concluded that boosting the age to 17 or 18 could not pass the Minnesota Legislature and may not be the best answer.
This raises the question of age and maturity and responsible judgment. I know some people at the age of 25 and 30 who are not responsible drivers. Does one more year make that much difference?
I read where some experts said the part of the brain that deals with responsibility is not fully developed until age 22.
So what would make a difference in reducing the number of teen fatalities and injuries?
The parents. The law requires six hours of behind-the-wheel and 30 more hours of driving with an adult before they take the test. Problem is most parents don’t bother with those 30 hours of training their kid to drive before taking the test. The kid does not have to provide any evidence and record he took the extra 30 hours of training.
Here are some tips for parents from the Department of Public Safety:
• Supervise you’re your teen’s driving and monitor and train your teen even after getting a license.
• Encourage your teen to speak up when they don’t feel safe in a vehicle. They need to feel confident to tell the driver to slow down or pay attention and tell passengers to stop unsafe behavior.
• Understand and reinforce the teen driving rules: the passenger and nighttime limitations, the complete cell phone band for teens with provisional licenses and the no new texting/e-mailing/Web access law.
Parents need to be a positive role model behind the wheel: Pay attention, drive at safe speeds, buckle up and never drive drunk.
Anyone reading this have a better idea?
