Teens really are bad drivers (Sorry if the truth hurts)

I found this article really interesting.

Deadly teen auto crashes show a pattern

I have felt for a long time that teen drivers don\'t have a realistic understanding of the risks they are taking.  Naturally any person aged 16-19 driving any vehicle after dark with other teens in the car is going to run a much higher risk of injury and death than an older driver in the same situation.  Whether it\'s because of some unusual way the teen brain functions (as described in the article) or simply because of reduced driving experience, I don\'t think you can really doubt the validity of that assumption.

The thing I don\'t understand are teens and their parents who willingly put them at the wheel of vehicles that require greater skill to operate; like SUVs and performance cars.  I have had conversations with 17 year olds who\'s parents bought them an STi or Evo8, or an S2000, and they don\'t understand the situation at all.  They say things like "yeah teens crash their cars a lot, but I\'M NOT LIKE THAT.  I\'m a good driver."  Then why is it that the only driver to flick their car off a hillside and total it at one of our meets is always a teen driver with little experience?  There was a period of time in 2004, where we literally lost one car at every meet, and it was always a teen driver.  Guaranteed.

Perhaps they are used to driving FWD cars where all you have to do is point the wheel in the direction you want to go, and push the gas pedal.  It\'s quite a bit different in a RWD car with no traction control or stability management system.  There\'s no substitute for experience, no matter what age you are.  If I were a parent, there\'s no way I would let my 16 year old drive an SUV or a performance car of any sort.  They would be driving a low powered sedan with a low center of gravity and less risk of rollover.  I would also damn well train them to use their seatbelts!

Good points, all of them. I\'ve noticed that local teen accidents have obvious causes.

For example, a recent wreck that killed 3 involved a young man.. around 16.. zipping down a residential drive at ~90~ MPH. Yeah, that\'s safe.

True, teenagers are prone to have more accidents because they like to show off and arent as skilled as older people. But I think we also need to look at the elderly. I swear to god last week some crazy 80 year old lady literally almost ran my friend over and didnt even know.

Originally posted by Halberto
True, teenagers are prone to have more accidents because they like to show off and arent as skilled as older people. But I think we also need to look at the elderly. I swear to god last week some crazy 80 year old lady literally almost ran my friend over and didnt even know.

I agree 100%  The only thing worse than a teen driver or an elderly driver is a player for the San Antonio Spurs.  

David Robinson is a horrible driver, I agree.

In fact, my brother has gotten hit by The Admiral twice.. and God bless him, he survived to tell the tale. Little known fact that Mr.Robinson actually had to retire because the court dates were eating up too much of his time. He couldn\'t practice, and that\'s why he had to piggyback on Tim Duncan to win that last championship.

Anybody want any Sno-Caps? *shakes box*

Here in Denmark you have to be 18 to drive and I can\'t say I disagree with that policy. There\'s something about the thought of 15-16 year olds driving that scares me a bit.

[SirMystiq]

I agree.

Teens are stupid when it comes to making choices. You would not believe the amount of idiots at my school who constatly talk about "drinking" and being "so fucking drunk" at a party. It doesn\'t bother me that they drink because I do also, but to hear them talk about it for for hours upon hours only makes me want to kill them.


Also, many of you feel that marijuana doesn\'t cause any harm. How would you feel to know that many of the people I know consider themselves to be "good drivers" while they are high or drunk. In fact, they say this:

"If somebody is high and kills somebody. It wasn\'t marijuana\'s fault, it was the bad drivers fault. If you can\'t drive while your high, you shouldn\'t be driving!"

The amount of ineptitude is appalling to me.


My belief is and is probably shared by most of you:

Until something terrible happens to somebody in our groups (circle of friends) the realization will never come. In my group, I know that it\'s going to take a death to take away that blindfold. Many have been close, and they just laugh it off.

Originally posted by SirMystiq


Until something terrible happens to somebody in our groups (circle of friends) the realization will never come. In my group, I know that it\'s going to take a death to take away that blindfold. Many have been close, and they just laugh it off.

I wish I could say the same for my 19yr. old little brother. He is a habitual drinker and pot smoker "I dont smoke pot but do my share of drinking RESPONSIBLY" and used to smoke like 4-5 years ago, anyways he is always telling me about how he gets so drunk with all of his friends and he constantly begs me to buy him alcohol but I always refuse. I will never buy him a drink until the day he turns 21 for a reason, because I dont want to give him a bottle and the next morning I find out he was out drunk with his friends and got into a car wreck etc.

Believe me when I say I have given him so much sh!t for drinking and driving its coming out of his ears but he doesn\'t listen so I though the same way you did...a few weeks ago "I picked him up from her house moments before they left mind you" one of his girlfriends and her boyfriend were drunk when he ran a red and got t-boned by an oncoming driver, the incoming car hit the pass. side the girl was sitting in killing her upon impact. Her boyfriend is facing involuntary manslaughter charges..she was only 17. What does my brother do... he doesn\'t have the life altering reality check I would like him to have, instead he calls me and tell me he\'s finishing the bottle she and her boyfriend were drinking that night in memory of her. I hung up on him and cried.

My brother is a loser.

[CHIZZY]

Here in Buffalo it\'s ridiculous. There are 7 colleges & uni\'s here. So the Long Island money crowd sends their retarded kids to U.B., and gives them a hot little car for high school grad. Next thing you know some idiot 18 yr old chick is causing a 6-car pileup \'cos she\'s on her cellphone on the 198 ( a narrow 55 mph crosstown freeway) because she missed her exit and tried to cut across lanes. Or how about this: 2 weeks ago a 17 yr old girl on plowed right through a "T" intersection at 35 mph and through a storefront. The owner of the store was at the front window & said he watched her screaming at somebody on the phone and decided she wasn\'t gonna stop. That\'s when he jumped over the counter & ran out the back door. I suggest a 1 year jail sentence for anyone under 25 on a cellphone while driving.

Good post Core - I was reading this yesterday - they should raise the driving age nationally to 18 - no exceptions.

Originally posted by GigaShadow
Good post Core - I was reading this yesterday - they should raise the driving age nationally to 18 - no exceptions.

Those 2 years extra do work, I"d know from experience...I didn\'t get my lisence until about a month after my 18th birthday, and I\'ve had no accidents of any kind, and one run-in with the Cops (Slid thorugh an intersection going 10 miles an hour where the only car that had been there in the last 15 minutes was the Cop that pulled me over -- Go Ice). I see these Juniors in High School with these brand spanking new Ford 150\'s and frankly it makes me fear for my own safety. No way they should be getting a vehicle like this to start off.

See Yuz.

Yeah i didnt bother to get my license until i was 18.

CHIZZ raises a good point: Women suck at driving.

jk

Young males and some males in general arent good drivers either, but i always found it funny that every problem that my mother has had with a driver on the road she always calls them "she" even if she doesnt always see the person. In all reality guys generally know more about cars and thus have a better understanding of driving. The only things that we do is try to push our limits. That or just stupid ish in general.

Another problem is road rage. I get a little bit of it, but i usually just talk shit. That or avoid the person. One time though there was this older guy (40\'s - 50\'s) in a truck behind me flashing his lights and shit when we were in a high traffic area with a speed limit of 25-30. I was already going 40 and this guy was pissing me off. I wanted to slam on the brakes but had he hit me, it would have been my fault.

In the end he tried passing me and i didnt realize it until he was almost next to me. I floored it because i wanted to make him stop/crash into the parked cars next to us but it was too late. That asshole ran 2 lights right after that. Sure i was pissed but i stopped because i didnt want to die and my gf was in the car.

Damn that was long. I just hate shitty ass drivers.

I got my license on my 16th birthday... Not a single accident, and not a single ticket.

A car in high school is so incredibly beneficial, there is no way in hell I would have managed to live if I had to wait until 18. I think its fine the way it is, shitty drivers will always be shitty drivers.

Originally posted by SwifDi
I got my license on my 16th birthday... Not a single accident, and not a single ticket.

And you are apparently a good student who succeeded in getting admitted to Notre Dame.  Not exactly representative of the normal teenager.  Just because it worked for you doesn\'t mean the rest of society should not be protected a little more from the average 16 & 17 year old dipshits.

Originally posted by Coredweller
And you are apparently a good student who succeeded in getting admitted to Notre Dame.  Not exactly representative of the normal teenager.  Just because it worked for you doesn\'t mean the rest of society should not be protected a little more from the average 16 & 17 year old dipshits.

Its definitely no mystery, hence the reason why a 16-year old male\'s insurance rates are through the roof. The only comforting option is to submit a high school transcript and display some aspect of responsibility.