Its an unbelievably ridiculous attempt to displace blame by comparing inattention of a cell phone user to driving drunk.
Let me ask this.
How many people who have been directly involved in a teen DUI crash, would feel ok about seeing legislation that all vehicles which drivers under a certain age (some say 25, some say 21 or 18) must have a vehicle lock out system breathalyzer?
Would you support that legislation?
Meaning, before your teen gets licensed and insured-a lockout must be installed?
What if the law encompasses all vehicles the child may have access to?
How far would you go to accept this equipment as a necessary lifesaver-like a seatbelt saves lives?
We know pictures and movies don't work.
We know they might sneak the keys after a parent falls asleep.
How far can a teen get when the car just doesn't start?
Statistics prove that there are more crashes due to inattentive driving than drunk drivers. I am not discounting DUI crashes. I just hate when people purely focus on DUI crashes when there are many more crashes and DUI ones are a tiny fraction. However, the DUI crashes are put all over the media because it causes people to get upset and watch their program or read their paper.
Those systems cost a lot of money to install and to operate monthly. I do not believe in punishing the general public for what a very small amount of population may have a problem with. I do like the idea of a code that would disable the car at night...just in case the teen would like to take the vehicle. However, if you are worried about your teen stealing your car, I fear there are many other problems you should be addressing.
Essentially in your argument, every car would have to have these since the trouble teens could steal the 87 year old woman's car from next door.
People need to put the fear of pain and the unknown in their children. I rebelled against my parents and they found creative ways to punish and mold my behavior. I just do not see many parents doing this anymore. A spanking will not harm your child if done for the proper reasons. People I fear are two things...lazy and fearful of punishing their children.
People will always make mistakes. Doesn't mean we stop educating them on the safety requirements when driving. Most schools have gotten rid of all extra programs like driver safety and assemblies that have guest speakers. Maybe people who feel extremely passionate about this problem, should volunteer with MADD and go to these schools and speak, free of charge, since schools cannot afford to do these programs.
Parents should always hold off on allowing their teens get drivers licenses until they can prove they are responsible enough to deserve to drive, that starts with getting good grades at school, don't give a license to a kid who isn't at least getting C's or better (A's and B's preferred).
If they can't be responsible at school and get good grades, they sure as hell won't be responsible driving.
IMO, most teens shouldn't be allowed to drive until they are 18, most are too immature and irresponsible (as evidenced with this accident)
The problem around here is too many parents don't care, they have latch key kids, they throw money at their kid to get them out of their face, they let their kid get licensed, they buy them a fast car, pay their insurance etc, they teach zero about being responsible, they reward for failure...this teaches teens to be irresponsible - it all starts at home with what the parents teach and what they allow to happen.
Another important note - teens are not allowed to drive with any other passengers, that was just the first of many things these kids did that was wrong that night...
+1000. I was unable to drive alone until I was 18. I was NEVER>>>>>allowed to take the car alone and definitely not to go hang out with friends. I would never and never took the car nor did I drive any of my friend’s cars. I was allowed to drive with my parents to every where we needed to go and practiced driving from 15-18. By the time my parents let me drive alone I was pretty good at it, just had a lead foot. I have gotten a few speeding tickets (always 5-12 over the speed limit). But what really made a difference with this last ticket was I did community service in lieu of fees. It totally changed my perspective on driving faster than I should...totally not worth it!!! Essentially, in order to change is has to be painful. I do not want to speed ever again. Those three days of community service, cleaning the most disgusting toilets with people missing their teeth, is still vivid in my mind....essentially burned a whole in the area of my brain that wants to drive fast~!
I got my license before the new laws, and even with stiffer laws for teens, it's not keeping them from getting into accidents.
Dave, your post indicates the biggest problem with our society. We do not take the time to teach responsibility. It's easy to just hand over the keys when you are too tired to drive your teen somewhere. It's easy to just trust that your teens know to never take the car without your knowledge. It's easy to not talk to your teens about driving other people's cars, especially after you have been drinking. Parents need to sit down with their children FREQUENTLY and make their expectations known. If your child starts to act up in any area...bad grades, disrespecting family members, slacking on chores, mis-behaving in school, not following family rules...you need to yank those keys away and buckle down on all freedoms. If your teen acts poorly in school and you continue to allow them to have a car, you are not teaching them that their lack in discipline in one area, affects all areas.
