Teenage Drivers-Whose responsibility is it to teach them safe driving?
One of the most anticipated rights of passage for a teenager is getting a learner’s permit, followed by their driver’s license. It is a sense of pride for the teenager and parents and is often considered the next step to adulthood. It’s also the No. 1 killer of teenagers in this country. Although the State of Alaska has one of the toughest set of laws for teen drivers in the country, it should fund mandatory driver's education classes in high schools because car crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens, teenagers do not understand the dangers of driving with friends, using cell-phones or the importance of wearing their seat belts at all times, and parents may not be able to afford driver's education classes available through private businesses.
Having a license means freedom for the teenager: freedom to drive to school, to the mall, movies, sporting events, after school activities, dances and work. It gives them the freedom to hang out with their friends, their boyfriends or girlfriends. It’s also the freedom to look and be cool. Parents are free from driving their teenager to school and all of their activities, and if the need something picked up from the store, they have the freedom to send their teen driver. However, with this freedom come the responsibilities associated with driving a three to four thousand pound mass of moving steel. Is a teen ready for that responsibility?
The laws for teenage drivers in the State of Alaska are some of the toughest in the country. Under Alaska Statutes AS 28.15.055 (1/1/99) and AS 28.15.057 (1/1/05) the following applies to anyone under the age of 18, “Anyone 14 years and older can apply for a learner’s permit. Anyone 16 and older not buckled up can be sited and fined” (State). A written test must be passed and they are not allowed to drive by themselves. They must have someone 21 years and over with a valid drivers’ license with them at all times. A teen 16 and older, with a learner’s permit, may apply for a provisional license, if they have had no infractions. They must attend a nationally certified defensive driving course, if they have had traffic citations worth 6 or more points within a year, or 9 or more points within 2 years. Their license may be suspended by the DMV if they do not attend the program. A legal guardian or parent must provide proof that the teen has had at least forty hours of driving, including at least ten hours in inclement weather (rain an snow), and nighttime driving. Anyone up to the age of 18 who has a provisional license may not drive between the hours of 1:00 am and 5:00 am. Other than siblings, the provisional licensee may not carry any passengers under the age of 21. Another law that impacts the teen driver was just passed by the State of Alaska, against texting on cell phones while driving. If a provisional licensee is charged with any of these infractions, they may be ticketed, fined and will have their provisional license in effect for another six months.
Once a teenager has passed the provisional licensing period, they may apply for a regular license. Are teenagers ready intellectually and emotionally to face the responsibilities? Questions arise as to how much time should a teenager have behind the wheel before they become a licensed driver, and at what age should states allow them to be licensed? Should they have to wait until they are of voting or legal drinking age? Or is a teenager sixteen or seventeen old enough? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that we have safe teen drivers? With the State of Alaska pulling the funding for Driver’s Education, the onus has fallen on the parents and the teens themselves.
These questions are raised with good reason. According to the insurance industry the numbers are staggering. Vehicle accidents are the number one killer of teenagers in this country. As stated in a comprehensive report in the August 2008 Readers’ Digest Magazine, “Each year over 5,000 teenagers die on America’s highways each year” (Special). Why? Because “anytime you have immaturity combined with inexperience, you have the potential for disaster, “ says Nicole Nason, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration”(Special).
Distractions are a major cause of teen accidents. Major distractions include fiddling with the radio, listening to loud music, talking or texting on their cell phones, and having other passengers in the vehicle. Excessive speeding, underage drinking and driving, falling asleep at the wheel, are dangers for teenage drivers. These distractions increase the risk of an accident happening. It takes only one second to look away, one second of lost concentration for an accident to happen. It is not a surprise that a majority of teens do not see these as being dangerous distractions. There is a strong sense of “it won’t happen to me” amongst teens. They are not experienced enough to know how to react, or more importantly, how not react to a situation while driving. Distractions cause most of the accidents recorded on teenage drivers, but the biggest killer of teenage drivers is from not wearing their seatbelts. Even though Alaska has a no-nonsense approach towards the wearing of seatbelts, it is up to the parents to teach their children to wear them at all times. This is a good start towards safer drivers, but we need to do more to ensure that our teenagers are ready for the road.
Schools in Alaska used to have a mandatory driver’s education class for all high school students. Students were taught in a classroom with simulators, and then practiced driving with a certified instructor. They were taught how to drive in inclement weather, how to handle a spin, how to change a tire and even taught the parts of the engine and how to troubleshoot problems. In the early 1980’s driver’s education was dropped from schools’ curriculum. Up until 1984-1986 the State of Alaska Department of Education had a line item in the budget for funding driver’s education classes. With funding pulled, it was up to the school districts to fund their programs. When the “No Child Left Behind” act came about, there was grant money to help with the fees in after schools programs, but schools were mandated to help those who were having problems with passing school, not to help those who were becoming teenage drivers.
The only choice parents have now is to put their teen through privately owned driving schools. With the economic troubles the country is facing, and fees that range from $395-$500, it can be too much for parents to afford. These schools offer in class sessions that cover safety, rules of the road, safety maneuvers, and technical aspects of driving a vehicle. They also have eight hours of driving time with a trained instructor. After a student has taken the course, they can then take the drivers test for $50. Those fortunate enough to be able to afford these schools can be somewhat comforted knowing that their teen driver will be a safer driver. An added benefit is that some insurance companies will offer a lower rate because of the training.
There are those who will argue that taxpayers should not have to pay for something that affects a small portion of the population, or that the cost to bring back the programs will be more than the cost to respond to an accident. They should be reminded that as a taxpayer, they ultimately pay for: the response by the Troopers, the Fire Department or Ambulance, their salaries and vehicle expenses, and their training. Taxpayers ultimately pay for higher insurance rates set by the industry because of accidents and rising repair costs. But the most important thing they should remember, is, that by asking for funding of the Driver’s Education program in ours schools, they ultimately will be saving a life.
Given the fact that the State of Alaska has a huge budget, we need to write our legislatures, our governor, and our schools to ask that the funding be reinstated for driver’s education classes. We need to have that line item put back into the budget. We need to have safe drivers on our highways. What can be more important than saving children’s lives? Having mandatory classes will help train teenagers for the responsibilities that go with driving a motorized vehicle.
Work cited:
http://www.state.ak.us.local/akpages/ADMIN/dmv/ako/teenlaw.html
Vetter, Joseph K., with Fran Lostys, “Special Report: The Dangers of Teen Driving” Reader’s Digest, August 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment