Teenage Drivers in United States Essay Example
Teenage Drivers in United States Essay Example

Teenage Drivers in United States Essay Example

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  • Pages: 5 (1325 words)
  • Published: November 17, 2021
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In 2009 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that there were about 5148 teens of between 15 to 20 years involved in the road accidents (Farmer et al 39). In 2000 there were about 8,224 fatal crashes that involved young drivers. This shows a significant decrease of 37 % in about nine year time (from 2000 to 2009) (Brady et al 692). The decreased number of fatal crashes a trend that was promising as young drivers constitutes about 15% of the United States population. Laws have been enacted which that are related to young drivers safety as discussed below (Brady et al 692).

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and some federal agencies such as NHTSA are frontrunners in the safety issue on the teen drivers through conducting researches in collaboration with state governments (Brady et al 694). They ar

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e educating the public on teen driving and are initiating programs that are aimed at reducing the fatalities. The two agencies, CDC and NHTSA, conducted a study in 2006 that examined cognitive, social and behavioral factors in the adolescent development. The study has an aim of providing insight and strategies of reducing crashes in motor vehicle among teens.

The study established combination of cognitive and hormone functions alongside inexperience create a high risk factor for teen drivers. Lack of experience with the newly graduated drivers is the main cause of fatalities. During adolescence there are changes in the endocrine system and this affects teen’s moods motivation and emotions (Farmer et al 42). Cognitive development mature at the early 20s and thus the logical, planning and long term behavior are yet developed at the age of

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16. The slow cognitive development and mood swing result in reckless driving behaviors, which result in crashes. Another outcome of the study showed that there is difference between teen and adult mind in multitasking at once (Brady et al 696). With the teen exhibiting this anomaly music and mobile phones have additional risk among the teen drivers. The study outcomes have helped the state lawmakers to study about the teen driving issues and thus coming up with state policies that are workable.

In 2011, about 40 states lawmakers made some regulations that were related to the young drivers. Modifications with the improvement in the licensing system of the graduated drivers were prioritized by most states. Besides, the issues of teens using cell phone communications while driving was also considered (Brady et al 698).

The implementation of the licensing system for the graduated drivers has significantly reduced crashes involving the teen drivers. The graduated driver’s license comprises three stages which include the learner stage that requires the teen drivers to be supervised by the adult as they drive. The second stage is the provisional stage that allows personal drive with no supervision but with restricted number of passenger and time of the day. The final stage entails allowing full licensure with all the restrictions lifted. In spite of these laws being implemented in all states, they vary greatly and they have been constant amendments of some of the regulations with the safety of the teen being on the forefront. For instance in 2011, about 60 bills were considered with the aim of modifying the state licensing regulation requirements.

Some states like Michigan, Montana New Jersey, Virginia and New York

conducted revisions to age requirements for the teen drivers and the exceptions in the number of passengers that one is permitted in a vehicle under certain circumstances. H216 was abill that was signed into law in Montana that allows the teen of 14 years or older to drive them to or from the bus stop without the parent’s supervision. In New York the teen drivers are allowed to have learners permit for nine months and upon obtaining the license one will not be allowed to transport passengers younger than 20years for the first six months. The bill also required that the parents to ascertain that the applicants have at least seventy five hours of experience before going for a road test and the allowed hours for driving was from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Farmer et al 44).

Graduated drivers license allowed teen to obtain experience in low risky condition by minimizing risky exposure such as driving during the night. GDL laws have been embraced by many states with night restrictions which are the intermediate stage of licensing. Some states like Iowa, Virginia, New Jersey and Washington are considering the strengthening the overall driving program for the teens (O’Brien et al 551). For instance New Jersey is moving a bill A3309 which will be requiring the parent of the teen to complete the orientation program before the individual under the age of 18 years may obtain permit to start driving. Iowa passed a bill that would allow parent with a valid license and a clean two year driving experience, to conduct some private instructions on student driver’s education (Farmer et al 43). Despite the various bill

being enacted in the United States of America on regulation of teen drivers, there are some predisposing factors that leads to traffic fatalities.

Adults and teens using mobile devices while driving has became an issue in the last few years with constant discourse. District of Columbia and thirty states have regulations that restrict the use of mobile devices by the teen drivers. These laws however vary from one state to another with some state restricting drivers who only hold learners permit from handling any wireless device while driving except on emergency cases. For instance in 2011, some states like North Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas introduced laws that restricted young drivers from using mobile device while driving. Texas bill H 2466 prohibited young drivers from handling mobile devices while driving unless on emergency cases (O’Brien et al 553). Other states like Maryland considered young driver to use text message while driving in their bill.

The other predisposing factor was drunk driving. However, this is non issue due to strict laws on alcohol purchasing which is limited at 21 years of age (Brady et al 696). This has resulted into the decrease in drunk driving among the teens. For instance in 2009, about 28% of teen drivers between the age of 15 to 20, who perished in road accident had a alcohol concentration in blood of .08 compared the 41% who teen drivers between the age of 16 to 17 who died in 1982 as a result of road crashes (O’Brien et al 549). All the states have Zero tolerance to alcohol among the underage meaning no amount of alcohol is required in the teen’s blood system (Farmer

et al 40). The repercussion of violating these laws are that one will be revocation of provisional license, driving permit cancellation, and suspension of the full licenses with opening of criminal charges against the culprit. In 2009, about 24% of teen drivers between the ages of 15 to 20 who perished in road accident had been drinking before the crash (Farmer et al 45). Some bills have been passed to contain the behavior of drunk driving. For instance, in 2011 Virginia passed a bill that defined zero tolerance to alcohol for teens under Class 1 driving with penalties including forfeiture of the license for one year and a fine of $500 or community service for 50 hours (O’Brien et al 552).

In conclusion most young people between the age of 15 and 20 years of age perish due to motor vehicle crashes. Programs in Graduated driver’s license have proven to be effective in preventing injuries and saving lives in the America roadways. With restriction passengers, night driving and supervised driving the teens have adapted swiftly to the benefits of driving safely and responsibly.

Work cited

  • Brady, Joanne E., and Guohua Li. "Trends in alcohol and other drugs detected in fatally injured drivers in the United States, 1999–2010." American journal of epidemiology 179.6 (2014): 692-699.
  • Farmer, Charles M., Bevan B. Kirley, and Anne T. McCartt. "Effects of in-vehicle monitoring on the driving behavior of teenagers." Journal of safety research 41.1 (2010): 39-45.
  • O’Brien, Natalie P., Arthur H. Goodwin, and Robert D. Foss. "Talking and texting among teenage drivers: a glass half empty or half full?." Traffic Injury Prevention 11.6 (2010): 549-554.
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