slo007

According to the CHP, 64 percent of teen passenger deaths in the United States occur when another teen is behind the wheel.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...n10teens2.html

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I heard on NPR that the probability of a teenager getting into an accident is 4 times more if there's another teenager in the car; and another 4 times more if there's a third.

gocubsgo55

i wrote a research paper in my Rhetoric class on increasing the driving age. Not just to increase it to 18, but to have around 2 years of driving experience and more MANDATORY hours before the kid goes out and starts driving.

Rediculous, the driving age is 16 (14 in some states) yet the drinking age is 21

TSX CSI

As a first responder, and an investigator, I concur with this report. The majority of teens involved in fatal MVA's is due to inexperienced young drivers. In my jurisdiction kids are getting nicer (and more powerful) automobiles at younger ages. So far this year I personally have pulled bodies out of Evo's (all separate incidents).

I think that kids are too young to get behind the wheel of a 300-400whp rocket ship.

fsttyms1

I think the legal driving age should be higher, and i also think there should be more stringent drivers ed and testing procedures as well

gocubsgo55

exactly

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

Not all teens are bad drivers who go out and get drunk and kill themseleves. I have never caused accident (I was rear ended though) and I got pulled over once and got a warning. I wasnt even going that fast it was 48 in a 35 and the cop let me go because I was all dressed up and had a girl in the car who was also dressed up he said he wanted us to have a fun prom even thought thats not where we were going whatever works haha. Anyway though Drivers ED down here does require a lot out of you and they do teach you a lot. Now im not saying im great driver but im not one of those clueless teens that has no idea what there doing. I think they stereotype teens I mean look at all the old people bad drivers. Btw im 17 and have been driving for about a year and a half with my license. I also think drunk people do more damage then teens. Unless its a drunken teen. I mean all the people who are putting out these statiscs probably got there license at 16 too and they wouldnt have wanted that privledge taken away from them.

csmeance

alot of teens in today's world are immature. They want to show off what their cars can do with-out knowing what it can do. Drivers license laws should be changed so when you are 16, you can get your permit, 17, you can drive to work and school alone only (emergencies excepted) and at 18 have a full license.

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

Alright you know if you where 16 you would want your license. I mean come on your gonna punish everyone becuase some people are stupid? There parents should take the car away from them and not give them brand new cars there gonna go fast in. Also its not age its years of experience. If you took a 20 year old who had been driving for 5 years (assuming he got permit at age 15) and a 30 year old who just started driving the 20 year old is gonna be a better driver. I think people should relieze that not ALL teens are bad drivers.

AS3.0CL

not all teens are bad drivers. it just seems like that because many of them don't know how to handle a car and are immature and don't know what they are getting into. some 20+ year olds around here still drive like they just got thier license and are horrible drivers to date. anyone can be retarded with a car.

fdl

teenagers are generally bad drivers. just as bad, or worse than the elderly.

That said, the particular statistic is in that article is silly. Gee, what a surprise that 64% of the deaths occur with another teen in the car. Could it maybe be that teens spend alot more time driving with other teens ?

DiveforTL-s

I know that in Iowa you get your licence at 16 but if you get ANY ticket before you are 18 you lose your licence for a year. Another ticket, you lose it for 2 years or untill you are 18 (which ever is longer, you can drive at 15 on a school/ work permit so this could apply). It's not much, but it is something.
I know not all teenagers are bad drivers but they are worse than the average driver. We need to rein in these kids that get to drive however they want without recorse. They need more experance with an adult driver. Most other countries have much more strict driving licenceing requirments, costing a lot of money. The biggest thing is time in the drivers seat. I know that the little time I got from Drivers Ed was almost nothing. 20 hours mabie. Everything else was on my own and was extra required by my parents. My Junior year there were 3 car accidents in my class of 50 and one of them died. Another was something trying to get ofer the tracks before the train got there. He hit the side of the train and was bounced off. His 2 week old Mustang GT was destroyed. His parents got him a new one before he was out of the hospital. The third one was a deer but he was doing 90 and would have time to stop if he was doing 60. Two of those three were directly caused by stupidity. Do we really need to drive at 16?

fsttyms1

You dont have to be a drunk teen to be bad. Most are just because of age and lack of experience
Yea you say that now, and think that your a good driver but you just dont have the experience . When you get older you will most likely say the same thing. Yea not all are bad, but the majoity just plain dont arent mature enough, with enough Drivers ED. (which in this country is the equivelent to a license froma cereal box)

vishnus11

All the "mature" individuals are saying that teen drivers a bad drivers in general...
All the teens think that not all teen drivers are bad...

I'll give you my story. I'm in Lexington, KY. If you don't have a car and can't get transport, you're screwed when it comes to social life. In my case, my friends live about 5 - 15 miles from me and THERE IS NO USEFUL PUBLIC TRASNSPORT - and thats not just the case for lexington, its true of many cities and towns in the USA. Being new to the Lexington area in my freshman year didn't help, and I'll never forget the day when one of us first got our liscence and we actually started to do stuff outside of school.

Additionally, I extensively drove my car during my senior year of HS to college campus interviews and the like which I otherwise would have had a tough time attending because of having to pay through the nose for booking flights to each of these destinations. I put about 30 - 50k easily in my first year of driving alone. I still travel long distances very regularly to visit friends and family, and the ability to be able to drive legally has been extremely vital to me. The lack of affordable public transport in a country as vast as this means that a car is necessary for all.

I think one of the things that makes America unique is the freedom it offers teenagers, and driving is namely one of those freedoms. I don't believe the solution is to raise the driving age - I doubt thats going to help. With the pitiful ease with which one can get a "liscence" in this country, I think any "new" driver, whether he/she be 16, 18, or 80 should have to undergo thourough driver training. Not some useless 10minute paper test, and 15 minute drive.

Additioanlly, teens get a bad rep for driving because of that very small % of idiotic teens that drive drunk or while under the influence of a controlled substance and then kill themselves or others. Crackdowns on drunk driving should be hard and swift - no mercy. Immediate liscence suspension, impound the car, maybe auction it off, and a healthy jail sentence.

A friend of mine once came up with the best idea I'd ever heard for devising a system to determine when someone should be eligible to get a licence. In my HS we were given a "weighted" GPA between 0 - 5, with 0 meaning your brain was as good as SPAM, and 5 meaning you were supersmart. My friend said, that the govt should subtract a students weighted GPA from 20, and that should be the age they should be allowed to start driving with a permit at. i.e. If you smart, with a weighted GPA of 5.0 you can start driving when your 15, and if your dumb, you wait till your 20. One of the best ideas I've ever heard.

Furthermore, like fdl said, the statistic is useless. teens drive with teens. So when they wreck, teens will most likely die when another teen is in the car.

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I know that and I relieze I got way more experince and I have a lot to learn. However, some of the students I go to school with are just stupid insane drivers. Some drive drunk. Some set cruise at 120 on the highway. (idk if they really set cruise they just cruise at that speed.) Some cut off people in traffic and drive all over the place.

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

Thats a REALLY good idea for the system. I know where I am from you have to have at least a 2.0 and no more then 2 Fs. (of course how hard is that?). I agree I think its great that we have freedom. I mean its hard for me always get rides having a car helps a lot and its nice like you said to hang out with people outside school. Also if they raise the drivier age to 18 that wont help either. I mean then the 18 year olds would be unexperienced like the 16 year olds. I mean im 17 but im more experienced then an 18 year that just started. Its really not as much age as it years of driving. (yes I reliezed age is some of it) but how much of a differnece is 18 going to make? I also agree with you about teens hang out with other teens. I mean its not like I go pick up grandparents and drive around with them. I have teens in my car when im driving haha. overall though REALLY good points

DiveforTL-s

The point of that statistic is to show how many teens PASSENGERS die with other teens driving the car. Yes, you tend to drive with other teens. You also tend to be destracted by other teens in the car. How much do teens ride with other teens driving compared to riding with adults driving? Ill bet its not near 64%.
I was just like veshnus11 in that I went to High School in Bumf$*k, Iowa. You did nothing unless you had a car. But most of us got little POSs to drive, not Mustangs or Evos. I think you should be limited on what you can drive as a teenager. I know this may be seen as unAmerican but should a 16 yr old really have 300 Hp?

LuvMyTSX

A lot of states are at least trying to make things safer....they limit what times teens can drive, who is allowed in the car as passengers, and how many passengers are allowed. I think that is at least a decent attempt. I also think that 16 is a bit too young to start driving. It would also help if parents took a bigger role in making sure their children are ready for the responsibility, because it certainly is a big one.

F23A4

100%

F23A4, the parent of a 16 y/o who is in the process of getting his permit.

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

Ok well with this statsic I have another question. People who died in this death how many of them had there seatbelts on? how many of them had good air bags? I also think thats important factor if your gonna live or die.

TheAcAvenger

I suppose that is valid. When teens drive with other teens, i'm sure you see a decrease in seatbelt use. Teens are also more likely to drive crappier cars that dont do as well in crash tests. Teens also tend to do more stupid stuff in the car with their friends. But another factor that needs to be attributed here is that most of the time. Teens drive with their friends. Teens dont drive alone as much as adults do. Its a fact. Therefore, teens are going to get in more fatal crashes with their friends because thats how they spend the majority of their driving time. If they're not driving to and from school, they're probably going to the movies with friends, to the mall with friends, to the store with friends, joyriding with friends. They dont have serious responsibilities and things they seriously need a car for, so they dont end up driving by themselves all day running errands. Thus, its how they're going to have accidents.

csmeance

i go to a HS every day and see how kids act. many parents in todays world don't give a shit about what their kids do. There are a few rich/spoiled kids at the HS and one on them has a 05 G35 with 20's. He wrecked his car peeling ou of the school and running into a car and then the lake.

slo007

I'm glad to see this topic is getting some attention. I started to drive when I was about 9 yrs old. My dad would put me in his lap, and I would drive the wheel. Later, when I got older (i.e. taller), he would let me do the accelerator and the brakes as well; though he still did the clutch and gears. When I got too big/old to seat on his lap, I had the whole seat to myself, and learned to drive a manual transmission car.

This would only happen on the dirt roads out in the country (Brazil). We saw maybe 3 or 5 other cars on the way to our ranch. Our cars were VW's, like the Passat Avant, Parati, etc. It was, and still is, too dangerous to drive in the city (Porto Alegre).

When we moved to the US in '92, my mom would sometimes let me drive the family Previa around the block. I could have gotten my license at 16, but only got it when I was 17, back in 1997. My parents were eager for me to get the license because I would be able to drive myself and younger brother to our errands, sport games, etc.

I was never in any accident, except in HS, when I was rear-ended by a classmate. She cried and I gave her a hug. It was only a bumper... $315.

I remember when I first got my license in the US, I was afraid of driving on the freeway: people drove so fast, and merging was scary...

Now I drive faster than everyone else.

The more experience you have, the less the chance of getting into an accident. I don't think age is the key here, but rather how mature the person is. Having a 300 hp car is also a very bad idea. I read of many people while I was in HS who got an expensive car and killed themselves wrapped around a tree. A nice car doesn't have to be a sports car.

LuvMyTSX

Doesn't even have to be a car...one of my classmates from high school died when he wrapped himself around a tree on his motorcycle the September after we graduated. It was very tragic. He was also my lab partner in a science class. I'll never forget when I found out about his accident, less than a month after going away to school. He was one of the immature kids, but a pretty good kid nonetheless, just not mature enough to be behind the wheel.

ludachrisvt

iTrader: (2)

since nobody has done this yet

Python2121

THANK YOU

the title should be rephrased "teenagers hang out with other teenagers and apparently teenagers are irresponsible"

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

See now I agree with that I think the more experince you can get on your permit or in parking lots of whatever by the time you have your license is really important thing to have.

heyitsme

Theres more to it than that, the brain continues to change as we get older and that is what is considered maturity. Younger people may show signs of maturity, but their brains are still not fully developed which pretty much means they are just as capable as making foolish decisions with friends in the car as some joker is under the pressure of his friends.

I drove before I got a permit and yes it made me a more understanding driver, but it didn't make me anywhere near the driver I am now nor do I even consider those first years as good driving.

Thats the whole problem of young people logic, oh I've driven before this so I know what I'm doing more than joe just getting his license when in reality both are dangerous.