In the United States of America, the accident rate per mile for drivers
in the 16-19 age group is four times higher than among older drivers.
What is even more frightening is that the youngest drivers are the most
dangerous. The accident rate per mile for 16-year-old drivers is three
times higher than for 19-year-old drivers.
Let's look at more
figures. More than 20% of all traffic deaths occurred when a teenager
was driving the car, and more than 60% of teenage passenger deaths
occurred when another teenager was driving the car.
So the question remains: Are teen drivers ready?
Simply put, the answer is no.
A
driver's perception of his driving skills greatly affects how they
behave on the road. Think about it. This rule applies all the time.
Take skateboarding for example. Compare an amateur against a
professional. Obviously the professional will participate in more
stunts than the amateur, and the likelihood of an accident would be
higher in the latter.
And this may not be their fault. A recent
series of studies reported some very interesting findings. Teens may
not be able to help it when they take risks. It’s how their brains are
wired.
Scientists have found that the region of the brain that
inhibits risky behavior does not fully form until the person is
25-years-old. That means that a 16-year-old driver is seriously not
ready to perceive the risks of driving a car. And they really cannot
help it. No amount of teaching, training and practicing can help them.
This
is especially true when the teen is around his friends. When he drives
alone, he most likely would not take any significant risks, but around
friends, he ran more traffic lights.
Well, what then, can be done?
There are a few options:
1. Limit the number of passengers in a teen’s car.
It
can be made a law to prevent the number of passengers in a teen’s car
from going above a certain limit. As the study has shown, more friends
in the car lead to more risk-taking, and thus more accidents. The
inverse accordingly is true.
2. Ban cell-phone usage in a car.
A
test was once conducted like this. There were two groups of people who
had to press a button when a light flashed in front of them. The only
difference is that in the first group, there were no distractions while
in the second, they were allowed to chat with a friend on a cell-phone.
Those using the cell phones were more likely to not notice the flash
than those who had nothing to distract them.
3. Raise the driving age to 18.
Legislators
have begun to consider raising the legal driving age to 18, and this
will be a very good move. Many countries around the world have a much
higher legal driving age than the United States, and the percentage of
casualties in countries with a similar road safety standard as the
United States are definitely lower.
All three options are
definitely effective, though, they may face much opposition. Firstly,
Teenagers want to drive a car. A car is a status of freedom and
independence. Secondly, it would be difficult to enforce such rules
like banning cell-phone usage or limiting the number of passengers in a
teen’s car. However, the advantages of enforcing these three options
undeniably outweigh the disadvantages.
Melih Oztalay, CEO
Auto Safety Magnets
www.autosafetymagnets.com
