Dangers Teens Face While Driving

Hi, I am SuAnne, an undergraduate study student at Capitol College near Washington, DC.,where like anywhere else, teen health issues are a concern. One of my most recent concerns are the dangers new teenage drivers put themselves in while behind the wheel of an automobile. Although the permitted drivers’ age varies from state-to-state, teenagers are legally allowed behind the wheel as early as fourteen. I personally believe this was not the greatest decision the government could have put into action because at this age, children are young, inexperienced, and still going through a stage of maturing. I know at fourteen, I was still playing with Barbie dolls, which meant I hadn’t grew up from my childhood ways.

At age seventeen, teenagers have reached the point in their life where they think they have all the answers, which is a reason they do what they do, no matter if it is illegal or legal. States make it right for them to be behind the wheel. Most teenagers are still learning responsibilities up until age 18, and some take longer than that.

Dangers teens face while driving come from poor decisions, including drinking, speeding, texting, and talking on the cellular phones. In 2008, about 3,500 teens in the United States aged 14–19 were killed and more than 350,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor-vehicle crashes. Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females. Together that is 58%, and the world is made up of a whole [100%], so that is more than half.

With that said, this issue matters to me, because, I am a victim of losing a teen sibling in a fatal car crash caused by drinking and driving. This on-going issue affects everyone in the world. Most people would think it only affects the people who multi-task while driving, or people that were killed or seriously injured in the car, and their family and friends. But someone more mature in evaluating knows it affects everyone else on the road, sidewalks, and sometimes it even affects those minding their business in their own household because you never know what is going on in the cars around.