In
“Driving to the Funeral,” Anna Quindlin discusses the idea of teenage deaths
due to car accidents. There are more
funerals in high schools from car accidents, and car crashes are the number one
cause of death for teens. MADD fights to
keep teenagers safe in the car, but more teens have seen their peers speeding
than drunk driving, so speed is the problem, not drinking. Some states have regulations for teen
drivers, for example, not more than one teen in the car, time regulations,
required driving with family members.
However, these laws are not enforced.
Therefore, teens do not adhere to them.
Studies have shown that raising the driving age even one year decreases
these accidents significantly, but parents are reluctant to take away teens’
freedom. Raising the driving age would
save so many lives. Anna Quindlin
believes that raising the driving age is the best way to prevent accidents, but
I disagree because teens should renew their licenses more often with tests,
monitoring devices should be put in teens’ cars, and the penalties for teen
drivers should be enforced.
I believe the government should pass a
law stating drivers between the ages of 15-20 should renew their licenses every
3-6 months, by performing several tests.
This would provide us with background information on those people’s
licenses. It will confirm safe driving
or show us reckless driving. For
example, if drivers have points on their licenses, this will prove that the
driver has been disobeying the driving rules.
Either they have not come to a complete stop at a stop sign or speeding
up at a yellow light rather than slowing down.
The two types of tests that can be performed are written and driving. The first test is multiple choice, regarding driving
rules; test two evaluates driving performance.
In general, these tests will inform us if safe driving has been put into
effect. If not, teen licenses may be suspended for three to six months.
Monitoring
devices should be put in teens’ cars so as to monitor mileage; this will help
parents to know where their teen(s) are and how far they traveled, helping them
to know if they went past their boundaries.
These monitoring devices could also give warning signals when speed
limits are reached or about to be passed, allowing teens to be warned that they
are going over, and they need to slow down. If students continue to speed,
these devices will alert the police and guardians. A speeding ticket would then be sent by mail
to the teen when they break the law.
Another device that should be installed in student vehicles should
monitor cell phone use. Cars will become
a “black zone” for cell phones while the car is in motion. Since texting is another cause of teen
accidents, this will help keep students safe.
Penalties for teen driving should be
enforced. Some ideas that would protect
teens and other drivers on the road would be:
fines, suspension of licenses, and even being arrested. Curfews for teen drivers would be put in
effect. Teens cannot drive after 10:00pm
without an experienced adult driver over the age of 25. Upon the first time of the offense, a warning
will be issued; the second time, a fine; and the third, the license will be
suspended. If teens are caught violating
any traffic laws, fines would be doubled.
As for speeding issues with teens, if a teen is caught driving more than
25 MPH over the limit, unlike other drivers who would be issued a speeding
ticket, teens would be arrested. These
penalties will hopefully scare teens into driving safer.
Anna Quindlin is wrong, raising the
driving age for teens is not the best way to prevent teenage deaths, but by implementing these new penalties and
enforcing them, we might make a difference.
Every solution I have given not only keeps teen drivers safe but
everyone who shares the road with them.
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