Having a daughter who has been driving for a few years and a son who is about to get his permit…and watching their friends drive has gotten a bit under my skin lately.
As we live in a country with the lowest driving age (shared by Canada and parts of Australia - 16) and I know that some back-assward states let kids get permits at 14…
I started to look at some statistics. They frightened me!
• There are more than six million car accidents each year in the United States.
• A person dies in a car accident every 12 minutes and each year car crashes kill 40,000
people.
• The leading cause of death for individuals between 2 and 34 years old is motor vehicle crashes.
• Someone is injured by a car crash every 14 seconds and about two million of the people injured in car accidents each year suffer permanent injuries.
• Over 25% of all drivers were involved in an auto accident in a five-year period.
• Excessive speed is the second most common cause of deadly auto accidents, which accounts for about 30% of fatal accidents.
• Car crashes cost each American more than $1,000 a year; $164.2 billion is the total cost
each year across the United States.
• Car accidents are the leading cause of death for kids between 2 and 14; About 2,000 children die each year from injuries caused by car accidents.
• Each year, almost 250,000 children are injured in car crashes, meaning nearly 700 kids are harmed every day.
• Car accidents are the leading cause of acquired disability nationwide.
Now why can’t we get on board with the rest of the world and raise the minimum driving age to 17 or even 18 ?
When I see things like this….
I get furious! (Fine…I may be prone to road rage….but this is why)
Your thoughts?
6 comments:
my husband and i have decided that we are not letting our kids get their license til they are old enough to get one w/o going to driving school. we will get them permits so that we can teach them how to drive. you know here there are teen driving rules if you're under 17.5 (or is it 18?) like no one can be in the car w you unless they are 21 (this is if you have a driver's license already), you're not supposed to drive after 11pm, i know there are more that i can't think of. too bad that parents still let their kids do this stuff, and that kids have no sense and do this stuff anyways if their parents tell them not to.
wanna know something sadder still? see all the pics that you put up? there are shitloads of adults who do it, too...in some ways, we need to be role models, too. i will admit to being a pretty shitty driver until a car accident, that was NOT my fault, happened. i'm even gonna say that women are more crappy @ driving than men. haha
I wonder how many bicyclists get ran over by cars every 12 mintues. Because jah knows I have ran over my share. And will continue to aim for...
My kids got their DLs when they were 18. We didn't push it, neither did they...they just waited...it was odd. When I was 16, I ran to the place and have never stopped driving.
The make-UP people piss me off the most, well, it's a tie with drunk drivers!
Very thought provoking post, and every one should read it.
UP
I am guilty of texting and talking while driving. I am working on it though cause it makes me mad too! Kids don't have enough experience to not keep both hands on the wheel at all times!
I am also trying to cut out texting while driving, I was really bad for this but now am a lot better. What is more annoying to me are the people that drive like idiots and bob and weave through traffic like they are in labor, or tailgate the shit out of you, then pass you angrily only to then get passed by you(driving the speed limit of course) at the next light.
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