PSA - Teen Drivers

[Tosie]

One of my good friends is a school bus driver. Yesterday she was hit from behind by a car loaded with teens from a local high school. My friend's bus was stopped (with her signals on) while another bus in the oncoming lane unloaded some kids.

Luckily, my friend was driving one of the smaller buses, not the real long ones. If that had been the case, most, if not all of those teens would have died. Also, my friend's bus did not have passengers on it at the time.

Although everyone went to the hospital as a precaution - they all walked away.

The driver got her license 2 weeks ago. Having all the others in the car with her is against the law in our state.

No one knows what she was doing instead of watching the road ahead of her. She hit the bus so hard she totaled her car and did some damage to the back of the bus.

The worst part - she seemed oblivious to the fact that she came very close to killing herself and her friends. She was more concerned with the car.

If you have teen drivers, please remind them to be careful and pay attention to what they're supposed to while driving. Tragedy can happen in the blink of an eye.

 

[NotUrsula]

The worst part - she seemed oblivious to the fact that she came very close to killing herself and her friends. She was more concerned with the car.

You're right, it could have been tragic, but honestly, the above is probably the most natural initial reaction from a teen who just got her license two weeks ago.

Teens naturally are not all that good at "what if" thinking, especially if their minds are occupied with a more compelling here-and-now scenario that crowds it out. Given that no one was seriously injured, every teen that I know would react first with "my parents are going to kill me!" fear -- but a few weeks or months later the realization about how badly hurt they could have been will probably kick in, most likely once she is past her punishment for wrecking the car.

Scenarios like this are the reason for laws that bar new teen drivers from carrying other teens; in numbers they tend to get loud and distract one another.

 

[StacyMarie]

We had an accident here locally just a few months ago. Both the driver and passenger (brother and sister) were killed instantly. They still have no idea what the driver of the car was doing. The bus was stopped with lights flashing. Weather was not an issue. So sad!

 

[Tosie]

You're right, it could have been tragic, but honestly, the above is probably the most natural initial reaction from a teen who just got her license two weeks ago.

Teens naturally are not all that good at "what if" thinking, especially if their minds are occupied with a more compelling here-and-now scenario that crowds it out. Given that no one was seriously injured, every teen that I know would react first with "my parents are going to kill me!" fear -- but a few weeks or months later the realization about how badly hurt they could have been will probably kick in, most likely once she is past her punishment for wrecking the car.

Scenarios like this are the reason for laws that bar new teen drivers from carrying other teens; in numbers they tend to get loud and distract one another.

I completely agree. She did apologize profusely to my friend and was visibly upset. I sincerely hope she takes this opportunity to change her driving habits and stays safe.

 

[Tosie]

We had an accident here locally just a few months ago. Both the driver and passenger (brother and sister) were killed instantly. They still have no idea what the driver of the car was doing. The bus was stopped with lights flashing. Weather was not an issue. So sad!

So sad - such a tragedy.

 

[Music City Mama]

No one knows what she was doing instead of watching the road ahead of her.

They still have no idea what the driver of the car was doing.

Seeing teens drive around here and being hit by one doing it . . . I'd have to take a guess at texting.

 

[doris1976]

Young people have no clue of the consequences that result from their immaturity. They are lucky.

 

[MrsPete]

Two things jump out at me in this post:

1. Laws are in place to keep teenaged drivers safe, yet teens seem to think they're just attempts to keep them from having fun. In this case, if the teen hadn't been transporting other kids, she might well have paid more attention to the road and might've never had this accident. Regardless, soooo many parents do not require their teens to abide by what they see as unimportant laws. I don't understand.

2. I see soooo much of this around the school parking lot. Loads of teens in one car, caught up in talking, listening to music, texting . . . caught up in the parking lot, which is quite the social scene at any high school -- its all about seeing and being seen . . . I see soooo many accidents immediately before and immediately after school -- most of them are rear-end accidents in which the student wasn't paying attention and ran into someone. Every day I see teenaged drivers speeding, passing unsafely, and just generally failing to use caution. Being old enough for a license doesn't make a kid mature enough to drive on his own.

 

[Tosie]

Two things jump out at me in this post:

1. Laws are in place to keep teenaged drivers safe, yet teens seem to think they're just attempts to keep them from having fun. In this case, if the teen hadn't been transporting other kids, she might well have paid more attention to the road and might've never had this accident. Regardless, soooo many parents do not require their teens to abide by what they see as unimportant laws. I don't understand.

2. I see soooo much of this around the school parking lot. Loads of teens in one car, caught up in talking, listening to music, texting . . . caught up in the parking lot, which is quite the social scene at any high school -- its all about seeing and being seen . . . I see soooo many accidents immediately before and immediately after school -- most of them are rear-end accidents in which the student wasn't paying attention and ran into someone. Every day I see teenaged drivers speeding, passing unsafely, and just generally failing to use caution. Being old enough for a license doesn't make a kid mature enough to drive on his own.

Here in NJ you have to be 17 to get a provisional license (you can get a permit at 16) and 18 to get a basic license. I can't imagine living in a state where the age is younger. In this case, legally she was allowed to have 1 person that was not a household member in the car with her. She blew that one.

 

[MrsPete]

Here in NJ you have to be 17 to get a provisional license (you can get a permit at 16) and 18 to get a basic license. I can't imagine living in a state where the age is younger. In this case, legally she was allowed to have 1 person that was not a household member in the car with her. She blew that one.

In NC you can get a permit at 15 after having taken a driver's ed course. Most students get it later because the school's driver's ed classes are backed up and people don't realize that private driver's ed is available (but not cheaply). I'd guess most teens get their permit at 16 1/2 -16 3/4. While driving with a permit, the teen must be accompanied by a licensed driver over 21, and they're limited on the non-family members who can be in the car. So they can drive the family to church (with dad in the front seat), but they cannot drive a vanload of friends home from a party even if mom is present, and a 15 year old cannot drive with her 18-year old brother supervising.

They have to keep the permit for a full year before they can get a solo-driving license. More and more of my students are keeping their permits all the way to 18 because their parents don't have to pay insurance 'til they're fully licensed.

For the first six months with a real license, the student can only drive from 6:00 am - 9:00 pm. and can only transport one non family-member.

Penalties for wrong-doing behind the wheel are substantially higher than those for an older person.

The graduated concept is sound. Good parents have always eased their children into driving bit by bit -- you know, giving them restrictions 'til they were experienced enough to manage more difficult driving situations. Forbidding nighttime driving, bad weather driving, driving in crowded conditions 'til they'd mastered easier driving. To give an example, when she'd had her license for only two weeks, my daughter informed me that she was going to drive an hour to a festival in a nearby city. Never mind that she had never been there, that the downtown area is filled with narrow one-way roads, and both heavy traffic and drinking are common at this festival. She was SO MAD when we said no, but she wasn't ready for that driving experience yet. Today, at 18, I'd let her go with just "Be careful, you'll find cheap parking on 7th street". These laws are about the state trying to force parents to do what's right. It's sad that it's necessary, and it's sad that not everyone helps his or her child master the basics before turning the new driver loose.

As for not getting a license 'til 17, there's another side to that coin:

It's not common, but some students go away to college at 17 -- loads have only been 18 for a few months when they go to college. That means they don't have time for much solo driving (with their parents still exerting some control) before they go out on their own. My daughter's only going two hours away, but I'm very glad she will've had two solid years of driving before she starts maneuvering the interstates alone and before she is entirely responsible for her own driving. I have a friend whose daughter will go away to college in the fall, and the girl still isn't driving -- she's afraid to drive. My friend is worried about how this is going to work out. Right now she doesn't mind driving her the four hours to/from school, but there will come a time when she needs a car for an internship or whatever, but when's she going to learn? She has just the summer to practice, but that isn't much time to build up confidence. Eventually she's going to have to send an inexperienced driver out on a four-hour trek alone; this wouldn't be so scary if she had a slew of 30-minute trips and then a rash of one-hour trips under her belt. Also, she's going to a big city known for awful traffic. She's going to be a lamb to the slaughter. Knowing her mom, she'll probably follow her to school the first couple times she drives alone.

I personally think 16 is a good age for driving -- for the average teen -- but I think all too many parents turn a blind eye to their children's real driving behavior. 16 year olds still need significant supervision behind the wheel.

 

[mrodgers]

Seeing teens drive around here and being hit by one doing it . . . I'd have to take a guess at texting.

I get really tired of the constant blame being put on texting. Teens have been driving distracted, not paying attention, and crashing their cars for years and years, far longer than texting has been around.

Texting or cell phone use isn't the problem with teens or adults. Texting is just the hip blame people can put on it today. The problem is idiots (or just inexperienced and immature for the teen aspect) just flat out not taking driving seriously and being distracted by anything they have, not just cell phones. The cell phone/texting blame just drives me crazy.

 

[EMom]

I get really tired of the constant blame being put on texting. Teens have been driving distracted, not paying attention, and crashing their cars for years and years, far longer than texting has been around.

Texting or cell phone use isn't the problem with teens or adults. Texting is just the hip blame people can put on it today. The problem is idiots (or just inexperienced and immature for the teen aspect) just flat out not taking driving seriously and being distracted by anything they have, not just cell phones. The cell phone/texting blame just drives me crazy.

I don't blame the texting. I blame the idiots who drive while texting. Kind of like......Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

Texting doesn't kill people. Drivers texting kills people.

 

[Chelley00]

Unfortunately it's not just teens. A couple of weeks ago here on Indiana a shook bus was rear ended by an adult driving a box truck. Today I saw an old man rear end a car at a stoplight. Distracted driving can happen at any age.

 

[Katy Belle]

So glad your friend, and the teens are ok. So scary!

Four weeks after DS17 got his license, he called me at home after school. "Mom, I was driving home, a girl ran out in the street in front of me, and I hit her." There were many witnesses and they all said DS was traveling below the speed limit and the girl, 16, really did run right out in front of him. He slammed on the brakes, but still hit her! She was taken to the hospital and was fine, thank goodness! He was charged with nothing. So...teens and bad judgement...even on foot!

 

[StacyMarie]

Seeing teens drive around here and being hit by one doing it . . . I'd have to take a guess at texting.

No texting involved. They checked phone records. The parents wanted to know. They just weren't paying attention. It was a brother and sister, 17 and 16. When they didn't get home from school at their usual time, mom went looking for them and came upon the accident scene.

 

[dawnn12]

I see stuff like this all the time I drive a school bus, and I cant tell you how many times I have people run my red lights. Yes I see people talking on the phones, texting, smoking, drinking(soda havent seen beer thank goodness) and I have seen a fist fight involving the driver and passenger while that car was still moving. its very scary having someone almost hit your bus while you have it fully loaded with kids. alot of poeple blame just the teenagers but I seen all ages do these things(heck sometimes the older drivers scare me even more) {{{{hugs to your friend}}}}

 

[Gumbo4x4]

In Missouri, you can get your license at 16 & permit at 15. Used to be 16 for both. In my case, I got my permit the morning after my 16th birthday, drove around for a maybe 15 minutes & Dad said, "Okay, we may as well turn around & go back to finish". Had my license a few minutes later. To be fair, I grew up in farm country & had been driving (not on the road) for several years already. Probably a better system now since kids have a year to practice before getting their full license.

 

[Tosie]

Thanks to the PPs for your kind thoughts for my friend. I saw her tonight and she is sore but grateful no one was seriously hurt.