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Katie Tusa Section 5 COMM 375

Breaking news occurs each and everyday in society. Think of your local news broadcasters or your local newspaper. What types of stories can you recall? How about; “Teen Driver Killed in Auto Accident”, “High School Student Dies in Wreck”– do these ring a bell? Unfortunately, fatal auto accidents involving teen drivers are one of the most common stories in the news today. (Footnote 1) Many people die as a result of car accidents, with many more receiving serious injuries. “Young drivers are four times more likely to die in car accidents than middle-aged drivers, and are much more prone to speeding, driving recklessly, failing to wear their seat belts and drink and drive.” (Footnote 2) If we could reduce these dangerous behaviors, we could prevent these needless deaths and injuries sustained in accidents. This essay is constructed to raise the concern about teen driving fatalities and what can be done to reduce these alarming statistics. I will also touch upon the elderly behind the wheel, as I feel being too young or too old of a driver effects your driving skills.

To begin, I would like to present the idea of raising the driving age. I think that right now the driving age is too young and should be raised to 17 ½ or 18, due to lack of experience and/or maturity. In Massachusetts, nearly one-third of 16-year-old drivers are involved in serious crashes, according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Inexperience may be the leading cause in this statistic. Last year, a National Institute of Health study showed that the brain of a 16-year-old is not well developed in the area responsible for impulse control. (Footnote 3) “Parents can elicit promises from their teens to drive responsibly, but they can't stimulate the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, the so-called executive branch of the brain that weighs risks.” (Footnote 4) According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, sixteen-year-old drivers crash at three times the rate of beginning 17-year-old drivers. These statistics support my claim that the driving age is currently too young, and is causing accident rates to climb.

There are certain restrictions though, on a junior operators license. Here in Massachusetts, for example, for the first six months that a junior operator has a license they are restricted from driving with passengers who are under the age of 18, a seemingly practical way to limit distractions. (Footnote 5) However, unless enforced by the child’s parents, this law is not enforced unless pulled over by a police officer. Other forms the law for junior operators are fairly insensible. For example, junior operators must be off the road from midnight to 5 a.m. This seems practical however, “the National Safety Council’s data point to the 9 p.m. to midnight period as the time of highest risk for teen accidents and fatalities.” (Footnote 6) So, even though these restrictions are put on beginning drivers, they do little to help reduce the accident rate among teens.

Another aspect of this case would include the amount of time spent in drivers education classes. Say we were to propose that the number of hours spend with a professional driving school instructor double. This type of increase in instructed hours should help beginners learn the rules of the road more thoroughly. Drivers could then be able to spend more time getting a feel for certain vehicles, have time to drive on highways, and be able to learn what to do during many different driving scenarios. From a personal point, when I was young the number of hours behind the wheel with an instructor was around six. This was not nearly enough. I had very little time to get a feel for the road, different traffic driving strategies and so on. Doubling the time provides covering the basics along with going more in depth experience and onto the highway, which is essentially a large aspect in a young drivers experience.

As all this might sound convincing, the problem here lies in the instruction within drivers ed classrooms. Drivers ed lacks expert teachers and different types of terrain to teach panic stops, emergency lane changes, skid control, and drills to avoid tailgating– typically the skills that young drivers need to stay safe. (Footnote 7) This shows that students are not getting educated to the fullest extent on different scenarios on and off the road. “Currently, public school driving instructors are certified only once, which remains valid for life.” (Footnote 8)

While conducting the research to present my claim throughout this essay, I found an interesting concept online. Students are now able to take Drivers Education Online. This is the perfect example of our 21st century technology-based society. However, I am in total disagreement with the idea. This promotion lacks one on one instruction and teacher-student relationships that are built where teachers emphasize the importance of certain aspects and are able to share stories of personal driving experiences. It also lacks discipline. Being able to take the course as it is convenient for you does not allow for much instructed discipline that you would get in a classroom.

Speaking from personal experience here, I would like to make a case about the day your on road exam in scheduled. When the day finally comes for teens to actually obtain their license, they must meet with their instructor as well as a state police officer. They then begin the road test to determine their knowledge/skills on the road and the fate of obtaining their license. However, this time spent behind the wheel with an officer is potentially very short and easily misleading. Students enroll for appointments to take the test at the same time as their peers. Therefore, both an instructor and an officer are willing to push for shorter on road exams to get through the line of students at a rapid pace. This could potentially prohibit drivers from actually demonstrating their potential or lack there of. In such cases, licenses are issued to drivers who are not necessarily qualified to have one based solely on the fact that they could drive well for five minutes and could parallel park.

“During 2004, 16,694 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 39% of all traffic-related deaths.” (Footnote 9) Drinking and driving is a huge issue with drivers in general, but is especially common and prominent in teen drivers. “Alcohol is involved in almost half of all motor vehicle accidents that kill teenagers.” (Footnote 10) Teen drivers are at such a high risk because they are young and inexperienced. They have not yet been able to see first hand the effects of drinking and driving. They see it on television and in the news and think “this will never happen to me.” Unaware of the effects while driving and the after math they will experience if they are caught drunk driving, more and more teens are operating vehicles under the influence.

Problem is, young kids these days are beginning to consume alcohol younger and younger. The British Medical Association (BMA) published a report suggesting that not only was there a general rise in the proportion of 11 to 15 year olds who drink alcohol regularly, but also that there is an increase in the amount they are drinking on each occasion. (Footnote 11) This leads to the point of maturity as a sixteen or seventeen year old driver. They are in the stages of what is “cool” and what is not. With the persistent issue of having to fit in with a certain group of friends, giving drivers a license this young will provoke them to do things that will enable them to fit in. A new study offers one potential explanation for the rise in younger aged drinking among teens. Magazine ads showing up in publications read by teenagers, and especially by teenage girls. In 2001 and 2002, alcohol companies spent more than $590 million on 6,200 national magazine ads, many in publications geared toward the younger generation. (Footnote 12) This proves that young teens want to be able to “fit in” and will follow signs in the media, such as magazine ads, just so they will be doing “what is cool.”

Over this past Easter, April 2006, a nineteen year old girl from my hometown died in a drunk driving accident. She was at a gathering in town to celebrate the joining of friends coming back from college and had been drinking. She drove her vehicle to the party and drove herself and some friends home. After dropping some friends off and driving down the back roads of our town, she was speeding and hit a tree. The speedometer was stuck at 72 mph. The cause is unclear, whether she fell asleep behind the wheel or was simply too intoxicated to be cautious. It is the first incident of this kind that has hit home for me, and I am hoping it is the last. Although she was nineteen and not sixteen, the point is it is young teen drivers who do not understand the repercussions of drinking and driving.

It scares me to think about my friend because I have a seventeen year old little brother who just got his license this past February 2006. He is a responsible young adult and I have a lot of trust in him, but that is simply not enough. One never knows what goes through a child’s mind when they think they have “just had one” and will be okay to drive home. Although he may be smart I never know how he would react if someone asked him to drive them home or he thought he was okay to drive across town to get to our home. You never know what can happen. You must hope for the best that they will make the decision to call for a ride when they are unable to drive. Easier said than done though. I worry each and everyday that he will not make the right choice when deciding on whether or not to drive after consuming alcohol.

       The teenage driving age may be a rising issue in society today, but I would like to touch upon another aspect of the driving age– becoming too old. Who is to say what the right driving age is to get your license, but is there a point when it should be taken away? Many elderly drivers may lack the reaction time to know how to control their cars in the case of an emergency. (Footnote 12) Growing old seems to go hand in hand with having various medical issues. Problems such as visual impairment, foot abnormalities, hearing difficulties, becoming shorter and other challenges face many of the elder drivers out there. “However, in Massachusetts, they only require a vision test for anyone renewing their license, regardless of age, every five years. Many drivers, including the elderly, can elude even that test for as much as a decade by exercising a loophole allowing mail-in renewal every other license period.” (Footnote 13) Requiring the elderly to renew their license more frequently than younger drivers could potentially cause some drivers to be taken off the road, causing less accidents. “For the health of both the elderly and the general public, a sensible solution would require drivers over the age of 65 to take a road test every five years. One alternative proven to reduce crashes would be to require that physicians report patients with serious driving impairments, regardless of age, to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which would then conduct a lottery for road tests.” (Footnote 14) Such suggestions should be put in place to see if changes begin to occur and statistics lower for number of accidents caused by the elderly.

Some would argue though that receiving a license at an older age has little effect on their performance on the road. Arguably because they feel that age had no correlation with skills. They believe that you may be 16 and posses the same skills as an 18 year old driver on the road. And even if the on road examinations are easy, the driver must be qualified enough for a state trooper to permanently place them behind the wheel.

When it's time to get behind the wheel, a young personals able to react quickly to certain situations does not mean a whole lot without much experience. In addition, a lifetime of driving experiences does little for an elderly person without the physical skills. Lawmakers and Motor Vehicle Industries need to consider all the facts when making laws about driving. Who is really to say what the right driving age might be. Regardless of these facts, all accident statistics should be considered in the future, then maybe drivers will be more educated and experienced before heading on the road.

--Ktusa 16:00, 11 May 2006 (EDT)

Bibliography

Footnote 1: http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/2005/index.html

Footnote 2: http://www.lawcore.com/car-accident/statistics.html

Footnote 3: http://www.car-accidents.net/car-accidents-statistics.html

Footnote 4: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/01/12/the_right_driving_age/

Footnote 5: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biz/interstitials/int.php?title=Health%3A%20In%20Brief%3A%20Addictions%3A%20Teen%20drinking&pageURL=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/briefs/addictions/hb040914c.htm

Footnote 6: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/01/12/the_right_driving_age/

Footnote 7: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/NEWS06/604280479/1001/NEWS

Footnote 8: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/NEWS06/604280479/1001/NEWS

Footnote 9: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/briefs/addictions/hb040914c.htm

Footnote 10: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/teendrinking/821883.stm

Footnote 11: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/briefs/addictions/hb040914c.htm

Footnote 12: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/NEWS06/604280479/1001/NEWS

Footnote 13 &14: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/01/12/the_right_driving_age/