Teen Death on the Highway; Are 16 Year Olds Ready to Drive?

We have lost three children from our local high school to automobile accidents in the last two months. One of them had just recovered from an accident earlier in the year that left him with a broken leg. The latest accident took the life of two siblings and left the third with a broken neck. The ages of these children died are 14, 16, and 18. The one left with the broken neck is 10 years old. Earlier this year, in Steuben County, six young people died in one violent fiery crash! This is heartbreaking and very scary to me. My 21 daughter survived a crash as a passenger in a car driven by an 18 year old, just three years ago. It left her with some permanent physical problems, but it was the mercy of God she survived. The driver, driving far too fast on a country road, missed the curve and flipped the car end over end into a cornfield. I have another daughter who can get her license in January, 2007. My son, who is now 6 years old, will be ready to get his license in 10 short years! I'm concerned.

According to a web page at the Allstate Insurance website, car crashes are the leading cause of teen death, killing over 62,000 children in the ten year period from 1993 - 2003! These statistics have held true ever since the record keeping began in 1975, with over 5000 teen deaths each year. In 2002, 38 % of all teen deaths were attributed to automobile crashes. Homicidal deaths were at 13 % and suicide was at 11 %.

We spend a lot of time and effort trying to curb the violence in the streets and schools, and to recognize the warning signs and get help for children at risk for suicide, and rightly so. But when will we open our eyes to the carnage on the highways. Our children are dying and it can be prevented!

According to former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) head Jeffrey Runge, M.D., in a story on Dateline NBC, "If we had any other disease that was wiping out our teenagers at the rate of thousands per year, there would be no end to what we would do as a society to stop that."

Statistics show that the 16 year old age group is at the highest risk of an auto accident. Of that age group 77 percent of these accidents are attributed to driver error, 38 percent attributed to speeding and round 25 % attributed to alcohol. Overlaps in these percentages are due to multiple factors in some of the crashes. When teen drivers, involved in crashes, have other teen passengers, the crashes have a higher statistic of fatality.

Here are two very frightening statistics: The 16 - 19 year old group of licensed drivers are four times more likely to have an automobile crash than older drivers. Of that group, 16 year old drivers have rates that are two times as high as drivers between 18 - 19 years of age! These statistics tell the story and it seems that we are not hearing. These young people are not ready to be turned loose with a vehicle!

I understand the excitement of getting your first drivers license. At 16 you feel as if you've made it. You are grown up and have a sense of freedom. But the problem is you also feel a lot like you are ten feet tall and bullet proof. I remember when I got my license at 16. It felt great. I had an old car my dad gave me and, looking back now, I realize how the Lord showed a lot of mercy toward me. I had 5 or more accidents before I reached 19. Most of them were fender benders, but one resulted in totally destroying a car. I can't begin to count the near misses. I was not ready to drive. I had no sense of my mortality and didn't understand the seriousness of driving a car. I was at the wheel of a potential deadly weapon and treated it as if it were a toy! I bet that many of you who are reading this have similar testimonies about your early driving years. Maybe not as bad as mine, but, if you are honest, you know the attitude was true in you as well. I can still remember people I went to high school with who died in car crashes. One of my classmates drove in front of a train and killed his younger brother and sister and scarred his girl friend's face for life. Another family in our community lost 4 of their 5 sons in crashes. 3 of them in the same crash! One of my wife's closest friends, and old high school classmate of mine, lost her son and his best friend in a car he was driving, due to speed and driver error. He was 17 and so was his friend.

These statistics are frightening to me as a parent. I feel blessed that I've raised two daughters; one who survived a crash and one who made it through those years without being in a crash. But, I have two left. I have talked about this problem with my wife and with friends for several years. But it is time to sound the alarm. We must examine the present state of teen drivers and come up with a different plan. What we have been doing is certainly not working.

I propose we lobby our state legislators and those who represent us in the US Senate and Congress. We need comprehensive reform of the laws pertaining to teen drivers. We should examine the idea of probationary drivers licenses with restrictions on passengers and hours allowed for teens to drive. Some states have done a little in this direction, but it is not enough because it doesn't go far enough. Perhaps 16 years olds should not get a drivers license at all. If we issue permits at 16 years of age and then allow them to get a drivers license at 18, would that help? Given the statistics it surely would.

Meantime, we as parents and guardians can do something as far as our own children are concerned. My daughter will probably get her license in January, but I am not turning her loose with a car. I'm not sure how long I will keep her driving restricted to having me or mom in the car. I've ridden with her. She has some skill but she is definitely not ready; neither on the basis of maturity or ability. We have already been very careful to keep her out of the car with teen drivers. She thinks we're being hard on her, but I'm willing to take the risk of making her angry at me in order to save her life. Think about it: a second is all it takes for one immature decision to result in death.

I pray that parents and community servants wake up and decide to do something about this epidemic before we lose more of our precious children.