Teenage driving is a common occurrence among many youths in developed countries and it has contributed to causing a significant number of deaths among teenagers. Various US states and many countries in Europe usually offer driving licenses to teens aged between fourteen and sixteen years, but these might be too young for cautious driving. In the United States, teenage driving is the leading cause of numerous accidents that have claimed the lives of many teenagers that are mostly aged between 16 and 19 years. Most teen drivers lack valuable driving experience and are therefore unable to avoid accidents whenever they are faced with tricky situations while driving. They equally over speed and mostly ignore important road signs that make accidents inevitable leading to heavy casualty among the teen drivers and their passengers.
Putting the brakes on teenage driving
It is apparent that teenage driving is an important activity that enables teens to move from one place to another including going to school and attending to important family chores. Despite it fulfilling this crucial role, teenage driving has become a leading cause of death among teens aged between 16 and 19 years, with those aged 16 years facing the highest level of fatality. Proposers of the debate “putting the brakes on teenage driving” have various reasons why they perceive teenage driving as a dangerous venture. Over speeding among teen drivers is one of the main reasons that have made many people oppose teenage driving as it has contributed to more than 25% of all accidents caused by teens. This is due to numerous accidents that occur, as teen drivers are not able to react reasonably and timely when faced with dangerous situations while driving. Passengers onboard a vehicle with a driver, who are mostly teens, equally contribute to overspeeding as they encourage their driver to over speed. With these encouragements by teen passengers, teen drivers over speed, and in most cases, they are not able to control their vehicles leading to fatal accidents that have left many dead and others bearing permanent disability.
Immaturity is another reason that endangers teenage driving particularly because these teens misbehave while driving especially laughing and singing out of driving excitement. Teens equally do not easily grasp driving skills due to their tender age and lack of concentration. They equally avoid the company of guardians and parents, as they know that they will limit their freedom while driving. Curiosity causes teens to be easily distracted by numerous events happening outside the vehicle, and this can easily make their vehicles lose control thereby causing accidents. Their mental capacity does not possess the ability to assess the risks of a given situation while driving and this makes teens make wrong decisions leading to accidents. Teen drivers are faced with fatigue when they drive for long hours in long distances. This makes them lose concentration and therefore are not able to drive cautiously and this increases the risk of causing accidents.
Ignorance of safety measures and basic road signs among teens is another reason that has contributed to the great opposition to teenage driving. Teens are renowned for ignoring wearing safety belts while driving and this has contributed to greater fatality in case of accidents. They equally do not follow the limit of passengers that are allowed to board a particular vehicle at any given time, and as such, they end up overloading the vehicle. Teens equally ignore speed limits, and this is particularly evident from the recent numerous cases of fatal accidents in the United States, which have been perpetuated by teen drivers exceeding designated speed limits. Teen drivers equally use their phones while driving and this distracts them from concentrating on safe driving. This has contributed to great fatalities as teen drivers ignore the safety precaution of not using the phone while driving. Many teen drivers that have been involved in accidents have equally been found to have abused drugs that including alcohol. This is due to the ability of the drugs to impair the correct judgment of various risks while driving. Teen drivers equally, switch lanes even in areas that are prohibited and this causes great inconvenience to other drivers and ultimately causes numerous accidents.
Teen drivers equally lack sufficient driving experience, which makes them vulnerable to causing accidents while driving. Although nighttime driving is risky to everyone, it is worse for teens particularly due to poor visibility. Statistics in the United States indicate that teen drivers that drive during the night are four times more likely to cause accidents than older drivers above the age of 20 years. This has been significantly contributed by their inexperience and poor judgment while driving during the night. It is even dangerous for teens to drive with their little experience during harsh weather conditions, as the risk of causing accidents is even higher.
Conversely, supporters of teenage driving offer various reasons to support their case. They argue that teenage driving is important, as they are able to attend various important activities that include attending schools as well as helping their parents to attend to important family chores. They as well argue that teens are usually in need of a driving license to permit them to drive to their workplaces on time without relying on public transport. They can equally attend shopping and doctors’ appointments without interfering with their parents’ and guardians’ tight schedules.
There is sufficient evidence that teen drivers like those that new drivers of all ages need to start driving to ensure that they get the vital driving experience. They however need to be given the opportunity and advice to ensure that they can drive independently and cautiously. Teen drivers should thus be in the company of their guardians and parents as these can offer them directions and guidance as they pursue the ever needed experience. The presence of guardians and parents enables teen drivers to behave accordingly and avoid various queer behaviors like screaming and laughing loudly while driving. Parents and guardians can equally set rules and regulations that can be followed by their teenagers while driving.
Conclusion
It is evident that teenage driving is a common occurrence in most developed countries that can offer driving licenses to people of all ages including those attending to various personal as well as business needs. In the United States, motor vehicles accidents by teen drivers are the main cause of teen deaths. This has made many people oppose teenage driving due to various reasons that make these teen drivers very vulnerable to accidents. Over speeding, lack of experience, and immaturity are among the various reasons that people opposing teenage driving have given to support their case. Breaking various road rules and regulations has equally contributed to increased cases of road carnage among teen drivers since they talk on cell phones while driving as well as ignoring to wear safety belts. Various people have also supported teenage driving, as they perceive their driving as a normal experience for new drivers that are seeking crucial experience. They equally see this as an opportunity for teens to attend important roles that include shopping and means of traveling to school conveniently. Teenagers should however drive under their guardians’ and parents’ supervision to help them avoid accidents.