As I make a typical trip across town to the store, I experience a variety of drivers along the way. I will most certainly get cut off once or twice by those in a bigger hurry, and should a slower driver be out and about, I will definitely get behind them. I believe we each have our own driving styles and that our driving styles change as we age. Through my own personal observations and years of driving experience, I have labeled and categorized the three driving styles I believe to be most common in America. To make it a bit more interesting, and more fun, I will be assigning a wild animal that I feel best represents that particular driving style. No one category is totally representative of the assigned habits. There are always exceptions to the general rule, but for the most part I find each category to be rather accurate in their representation. I wonder what wild animal you would use to describe your own driving habits?
The first category I will label is the youngest, as well as the most dangerous, of drivers. I have a lot of personal experience with this group considering I have a teenage son living at home and have raised another son and two daughters, whom all possess a license to drive. I also have a number of teenage youth at my home on a daily basis who have graciously shared some of their courageous endeavors. I call these young drivers, usually age 16 to 25, my jackrabbits. They are fast, fearless and do not foresee the consequences of their actions. These young drivers make their presence known by the loud bumping and blaring of the sound systems they have in their vehicles. Two boys, in particular, make my front door rattle with their loud noise making machines. In speaking to these young people, and ...
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... them until I can safely pass and view them from my rear view mirror. I try to be courteous and patient with the elderly drivers because we will all be in this category before we realize.
As you can tell, we each have our typical driving habits and many are associated with our age and the personal experiences we have, or haven’t, had thus far in our lives. I know that I currently have the driving habits of a gazelle but at one time was a true jackrabbit. I am also certain that I will eventually be classified as a tortoise by my grand-children and great grand-children. The cycle will continue for generations to come, adapting our driving habits as we mature and have experiences of our own.
Works Cited
Coda, Dalton. Personal Interview. 29 Nov. 2013.
Fazio, Brenda. Personal Interview. 16 Nov. 2013.
Runberg, Jessica. Personal Interview. 29 Nov. 2013.
In this article written by the author Bruce Feiler, titled “Teenage Drivers? Be Very Afraid”, he talks about how he suggest the parents to stop being helicopter parents and allow their children to be independent. However, other professionals’ suggestions are the opposite when teenagers start to drive. As a result of the teenagers’ immaturity, the parents are told to be more involved because their child’s life may be in danger. As stated in the article by Nichole Moris “the most dangerous two years of your life are between 16 and 17, and the reason for that is driving.” There are various factors that play huge roles through this phrase of the teenagers’ life: other passengers, cellphones, and parents. In 2013, under a million teenage drivers were involved in police-reported crashes, according to AAA. The accidents could have been more but many teenage accidents go unreported. As a result, one of their recommendations to the parents is to not allow their children to drive with other passengers: other passengers can big a huge distraction and could increase the rate of crashes by 44 percent. That risk doubles with a second passenger and quadruples with three or more. Furthermore, as technology has taken over teenagers’ lives, the parents should suggest to those teenagers who insists on using the phones that the only safe place for it to be: in a dock, at eye level, on the dashboard. The worst place is the cup holder, the driver’s lap, and the passenger’s seat. Next, professionals also suggest that the parents implement their own rule and even continue the ones like the graduated driver’s licenses regulations. This regulation includes restrictions like not allowing their children to drive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. To
Driving is something everyone does. It is something that teenagers look forward to. Something that parents dread coming because it shows that they are growing up. It is a mile marker that everyone reaches at some point in time. But, when it comes down to it, driving is one of the most serious things people do everyday, one mistake and everything could be over. The increase in technology has led to an increase in distracted driving, especially in teens or adolescence.
According to national teen driving statistics, 16-year-olds, in particular, are 3 (three) times more likely to die in a crash than the average of all drivers, and they have higher crash rates than any other age group. In 2008; 81% of teenage crash deaths were passenger vehicle occupants, 31% of teenage drivers killed had been drinking alcohol, 55% were not buckled up, and 37% of male teenage drivers involved in fatalities were speeding. Teenagers who drink and drive have a greater risk of serious crashes than older drivers with equal blood alcohol concentrations. Teens do not wear seat/safety belts as much as adults. Teens tend to take more risks due to overconfidence in their abilities. These risks include: speeding, tailgating (driving too close to the vehicle in front), running red lights, violating traffic signals and signs, illegal turns, dangerous passing, and failure to yield to pedestrians.
In the 21st century, there are too many vehicles on the highway and most people drive a vehicle all around the world. According to Tencer, ‘’The global number of cars exceeded 1.015 billion in 2010, jumping from 980 million the year before’’ (2013). If a person is thinking about driving a vehicle, there are two options that can bring different experiences. SUVs are 4x4, strong, big, and more dangerous than sedans. While, sedans are fast, small, and the more popular choice. Driving a SUV and sedan are different in terms of safety, power and comfortable.
Just like the teenage boy that died in the wreck, most young teen drivers think they are invincible and are owners of the road which is all due to lack of maturity. The mind set of young drivers now days is “I’m too young to die”, or “it wont happen to me” and they are so blinded by the immature thinking that it gets them in trouble. Some traits generally linked with the immaturity are: chance taking, testing limits, poor-decision making, overconfidence, speeding, following to closely, and dangerous passing (Williams). When you have youthful age and immature characteristics combined the crash possibility is enlarged. The 15-16 age groups are among the most accident prone of most groups (“Don’t”), so why then would we want them behind the wheel? “Most U.S. states license at age 16, but the minimum age for a regular license is 14 in South Dakota and 15 in five other states including: Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and South Carolina”, stated Allan F. Williams. Youthful age and immature thinking is part of the reason wh...
Loss of motor skills is common among people when they get older, which increases dramatically after age 65. Motor skills are functions that involve the precise movement of muscles in order to perform a certain task. In a psychology study where 24 young adults were tested against 24 senior citizens, the evidence suggested that in addition to general slowing, the elderly have troubles with motor skills because they execute movement sequences as a series of individual movements and not as a combined pattern. When people execute individual movements, it makes it harder to multi-task which is a necessity while driving on the road. Having to control brakes, gas, steering, lane changes, turning, head checks, and many other assortment of tasks while driving, takes a toll on elderly people with diminishing motor skills. Another major contributing factor to deterioration of motor skills is change in cognitive function. One basic cognitive function that is severely...
Today’s society appears to be constantly on the go. People seem to be pulled in multiple directions at once. Individuals never appear to have enough time to complete tasks that continually accumulate. It can be difficult to criticize someone that tries to make the most out every minute. Unfortunately, some of today’s drivers show a lack of judgment and trying to perform other tasks, while behind the wheel. People may feel this is best use time while getting to a destination. Occasionally, the small amount of time that people are trying to gain results in a time consuming accident. With modern conveniences that are geared toward an on the go public, individuals appear to be too preoccupied to driving safely.
Teens need to be taught that driving is a task that is complex and demanding. Parents know how much experience a young driver has, and they know exactly how inconvenient it is when they have to drive with their teen everywhere while they have their permit. Teens tend to cause most traffic accidents in adults’ eyes. They are not experienced yet, and often fail to pay attention to others on the road. They often think of a car as being some type of toy, but they do not know how powerful it really is. The driver education programs must be strengthened in order to make sure that students really have safer habits, behind the wheel experience, and by having a better understanding of all the laws on the road.
More than one third of driver fatalities involve speeding as shown by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of the young male drivers between the ages of fifteen and twenty years old who were involved in car accidents in 2012, thirty seven percent were speeding. In 2011, speeding was present in fifty two percent of fatal car accidents with a teenager behind the wheel, which is almost the same percentage as in 2008 showing that the issue of speeding has not been improving. In addition, of the crashes due to error by young drivers twenty one percent of serious accidents were due to driving faster than what was safe for the road conditions. The biggest risk that is easily forgotten is that speeding increases the stopping distance required to prevent an accident. At the ages between sixteen and nineteen thirty eight percent of males and twenty four percent of female teenagers are involved in crashes resulting from high speeds. A total of two thousand eight hundred and twenty three teenagers ages thirteen through nineteen were killed in car crashes in 2012, this is sixty eight percent less than in 1975 and seven percent less than 2011. Though the numbers have decreased, they are still there; furthermore they are not just numbers as is easily forgotten, these numbers represent more than a statistic, they represent a life. To further drive the point that beyond the numbers are lives, here are a couple stories about the life of someone killed in a car accident due to excessive
It’s normal that as we age, our driving abilities tend to change. Adjusting to life changes such as retirement, different schedules, and new activities also affect where and when they drive. Most older adults drive safely because they have a lot of experience behind the wheel. They are often hurt more seriously than younger drivers when they are involved in crashes (Older Drivers , 2012). There are many factors that affect older adults when driving such as arthritis, memory loss, and spine problems, which make drivers lose height and become shorter behind the wheel, diminishing visual range (Older Drivers , 2012). Driving skills can be affected by age-related declines in vision, hearing, cognitive functioning, ability to reason and remember, and other abilities, as well as certain health conditions and medications. It’s important to note , adults tend to take more medications as they age, and even if they’re not developing dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, the medications can cause cognitive changes and confusion, which in turn can affect they’re driving abilities (Older Drivers , 2012).
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.
In the 21st century, our nation is facing a major issue, causing teenagers to lose their lives at the hand of the wheel due to inexperienced driving. “Teen drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in an automobile crash,” and statistics show. Automobile accidents are the number one cause of teen deaths. Driving regulations are in high need to be changed in order for teenagers to gain more experience with driving before taking the driving test, which could help save countless adolescence’s lives.
Sixteen year olds have a higher crash rate than drivers of any other age. “ in 2011, teenagers accounted for 10 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths” (Teen Driving Statistics). For this purpose, Many states have begun to raise the age limit by imposing restrictions on sixteen years old drivers. For example, limiting the number of passengers they can carry while driving. “The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report in May 2012 that showed that the risk of 16- or 17-year old drivers being killed in a crash increases with each additional teenage passenger in the vehicle. The risk increases 44 percent with one passenger; it doubles with two passengers, and quadruples with three or more passengers. The study analyzed crash data and the number of miles driven by 16- and 17-year olds” (Teen Driving Statistics). Another example, is that many people believe that teenage drivers have a race boy/girl mentality. This mean that when any teenager gets into a vehicle of any kind they get some type of thrilled or that the driving laws do not accommodate them in any way, shape, or form. They would go drag race ...
Most teenagers are excited to get their license so they are able to be with their friends. They believe it is fun to have a car full of friends and drive anywhere and everywhere. However, most teenagers are not aware that three or more teen passengers quadruples a crash risk (National). When others are in the car with a driver it causes a myriad of distractions. Teenagers are subjected to peer-pressure and therefore do not make mature decisions. For example, teenagers wear seat belts less often than older drivers because of peer-pressure (Millward). The seat belt is a restriction so if an accident were to occur the outcome of it will not be as extreme with it on. Wearing a seat belt is also a law and teenagers pressure each other to break that law. The fatality rate for teenagers is 3.6 times higher than driving alone (California). Teenagers are pressured to break laws and do illegal actions while others are in t...
Preview: To overcome aggressive driving we must first understand it. I would like to share with you the problem, the dangers and the solutions for this growing trend.