I am trying to be upbeat, but it is really a problem about teen drivers. I think that teenagers don't have enough common sense to really know how to drive well, and especially when there are other teens in the car. I think that the desire to impress others, or peer pressure, makes teens not think straight. It is hard enough to drive alone for most of us, and I would imagine that inexperienced drivers really have a hard time with other teens in the car--they just don't know it!
I am so saddened by the loss of life when five teenage girls died in upstate New York this weekend. They were passing a van, and hit a truck coming from the other direction. If only the driver had stayed where she was, went a little slower, and followed the van for awhile until she was sure. But, as a teenager, she was not sure, and she passed that van anyway.
What is the answer? Do we take drivers licenses away from teens? I am not sure, but I do know that if I had a teenager, I would try very hard not to let him or her drive with other teens in the car.
Recently I saw a TV show about seat belts. They interviewed a mom who seemed very close to her daughter, who insisted that HER daughter always used a seat belt, that they had talked about it many times and that her daughter never would go anywhere without one. She was very positive about this. Then they showed the mom a video that was taken of the car that her daughter was driving. She was with a group of girls, and none of them were wearing a seatbelt.
Taking away privileges isn't something that I take lightly when dealing with teens. My parents always gave us the benefit of the doubt and I was given my first car to drive when I was 16. Did I take chances? Yes. Did I do stupid things? Yes. Did I die? No, but almost. So....what is the answer? I guess all we can do is pray.
Have a great day.
