54% of Kids Killed in Cars Had Teen Drivers
According to MSNBC, this not-surprising stat comes from a six-year study investigating the deaths of 10k child passengers. Do the math, and it gets even scarier; car crashes are now the leading cause of death for teens. The specifics are depressingly predictable. "More than three-quarters of the fatal crashes occurred on roads with speed limits higher than 45 mph, and nearly two-thirds of the young passengers were not wearing seat belts." Who doesn't wear seat belts? Sure, every blue moon you run into someone that claims they survived a crash because they weren't wearing a seatbelt. But then the conversation quickly changes to tin foil hats and anal probing at the hands of alien abductors. Personally, I disagree with one of the study's recommendations– raising the minimum age for a learner's permit to 16-years-old. My dad taught me to drive when I was 12, and I feel I'd be an even safer driver if I had learned earlier. Anyhow, assuming that raising the driver's permit age will stem fatal teen-driver accidents, what about the other 4600 children killed with adults behind the wheel?
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Kids killed in school bus accidents were being driven by school bus drivers on the way to or from school or a school function. Therefore, I suggest we ban kids from riding in school buses driven by school bus drivers on the way to or from school or a school function. I realize that kids can be idiots behind the wheel; that is the way it's always been and it will never change for some of them. However, better training would help as would teaching kids today some personal responsibility. It's too easy to get a license and they do not have to deal with the consequences of their actions; it's "someone else's fault".
I see one problem here.It's a fact that a seatbelt will save your life. My son who is a Police officer was involved in a serious collision last year. This was a case where not wearing a seatbelt saved his life but it was by chance that he didn't have it buckled and it is a rarity. He'll be the first to encourage the use of a seatbelt. I also don't think that raising the minimum age is going to accomplish very much.The problem is this; kids are kids and unfortunately in many cases parents are NOT parents. We can't expect more from the kids until parents step up to the plate. Because a kid has attained a certain age doesn't mean that he is mature enough to handle the responsibility of driving.That's for the parents to decide and if a teen is caught speeding their parents shouldn't be waiting for a court case to come up to determine the out come-take the keys and the license and lock them both away for a year.There is no reason for a teen to be driving a high performance car. As President of a Corvette club I can tell you that most are not ready. Again, this goes back to the parents. When I was 19 I put a deposit on a used Corvette and when my father found out he made me get the money back-end of story because he was worried that I would kill myself. He made the right call!
I think most of the kids involved in causing these accident have a death wish. Their feelings are often a result of poor parenting, or a reaction to the horrific world they've been brought into. Cheers
U cannot blame teenagers nowadays. They have hot blood nowadays. Maybe the young should consider reading this before getting themselves killed http://young-insurance-drivers.blogspot.com/2010/08/young-drivers-killed-in-car-accident-4.html