 |
|
TEENAGERS AND SAFE DRIVING
It was Paresh's 18th birthday. He was visibly excited with his birthday gift, a spanking new motorcycle. He could hardly wait to go zooming down the streets of Chennai on that cool December evening. He wanted Neha, his girl friend to be the first one to ride pillion with him on his new gift. While negotiating a turn, he accelerated the vehicle. It was then he saw a truck coming down the bend. To avoid a collision, Paresh braked and swerved to the left. The bike skidded. Paresh was flung away and the back of his head hit the footpath. By the time help could reach Paresh, everything was over. Paresh died on the spot. Mehtas lost their only son that day.
Believe it or not, the accident risk of drivers in the age group of 17-19 is nearly nine times that of drivers in the 40-50 age group. In Chennai alone during the first 8 months of 1999, there were more than 125 cases of fatal accidents involving persons below the age of 25. This should certainly make us sit up.
The new generation brought up on the diet of hi-tech gizmos is really in a hurry to get ahead. Their role models are young achievers like Sachin Tendulkar and Bill Gates. High speed driving is only a part of their fast paced life style. Teenyears are a time of daring and taking risks. They have a macho image with a still to develop sense of judgement. Peer group pressure is very strong among teenagers. The need to be a part of a group means that they will give in to things they do not necessarily agree with.
The young are always in a hurry. They perhaps find pleasure and a psychological satisfaction when they zoom down the roads in complete disregard of their and others safety. Though the reflexes of the young drivers are sharp and good, speed thrills and they take to reckless driving. Wanton violation of signals, tendency to overspeed and zoom on the overcrowded roads is more a rule rather than an exception for our teenage drivers. Besides, the youngsters also take to dangerous driving in less frequented areas and residential colonies.
It is particularly difficult for a young teenage driver to resist - the temptation to show off to their friends. Saying no in these situations is very difficult, but it becomes easier with experience. Teenage drivers can be prepared to say that they don't like to be pressured into doing things. They can refuse to go with the crowd with a simple explanation and be honest about what they think and feel.
Another important factor - the false sense of pride that the parents have in their teeny prodigies, adds to the problem. These parents boast of their 15 or 16 year old teenage drivers, with driving licences, obtained through various fraudulent means. The young drivers do not have the experience and maturity and also have a tendency to show off their half-baked skills with parental nod. All these put together certainly make teenagers, terrible and dangerous drivers. Some of our elite schools are also breeding grounds for teen drivers.
The ease, with which one can acquire a driving licence, compounds the problem. Even teenagers who possess a validly obtained licence can be a hazard behind the wheel, with their lack of experience and readiness to take risks. There is no proper mechanism to ensure a systematic graduation from being a learner driver to a full fledged one. Not many of our young drivers possess the knowledge of traffic rules.
Today the trend is supervised driving for teen drivers. Many US states are now moving towards graduated driver licensing systems that place heavy emphasis on parents as role models and coaches. One of the principles behind graduated licensing is to allow young drivers to accumulate low-risk driving experience while accompanied by qualified co-drivers such as parents. In California, for example, there is a requirement that teenagers accumulate 50 hours of accompanied time before being allowed to drive solo.
Practise, preparation and restrictions - these are three important aspects to keep the young drivers safe. Parents can be of great help in this. They can prepare their teenagers to be prepared for the time when they need the confidence to say no. By encouraging awareness of traffic, road safety and the growing menace of road accidents, one can begin the process of making a safe driver early. However this needs a careful handling Teenagers do not see the things as the adults do. Their risk perception is different. They do not consider the long-term consequences of their action.
If teenagers are supervised while driving for a reasonable period of time, they will certainly make safer, saner and sober drivers. But certainly parents need to keep a very vital and important fact in mind - do not set guidelines that you do not follow yourself. Avoid lecturing. Set the right example and approach your teenager as a young adult. Stress that the most important thing to you is their safety. According to a study in the US there is a direct relationship between accidents and violations of traffic rules by the parents and their teenagers. Study results have shown that the more the number of accidents and violations caused by the parents, more is the likelihood of the teenagers being involved in similar problems.
Even parents with bad driving records will be concerned about their teens’ safety, and their supervision is still likely to keep their offspring out of trouble during early driving experiences. Certainly it would work wonders and send across the right message to the teenagers.
This can, however, only be achieved by discussing with our teenagers the driving etiquette, while one is on the driver's seat. They can be told some of the possible outcomes of reckless driving.
1. Injuring
themselves or others
2. Killing
their friends
3. Loss of
license, getting a criminal record
4. Loss of
self esteem and people's respect.
5. Initiation
of criminal record and criminal proceedings.