Joshua’s sleep yesterday night was a pretentious one in an attempt to fool his parents so that they leave for the late night party. The moment they left, all he did was grabbed the keys of his dad’s Cooper and there he went on his personal venture without realizing what it ultimately could turn out to be.

He had barely fooled the Cop on the first alley to collect his best pal jimmy that a speed spree struck him as he tried to emulate his favorite rally star only to end up dying, for he couldn’t control the car and jammed it against a truck ultimately ‘loosing it all’.

A sad narrative but then I don’t intend to pay condolences to the passed soul or move your hearts by continuing with this, but I have a question to all you parents! Do you have a Joshua at home? A handsome teenager who loves getting behind the wheel but isn’t trained enough to exploit the enticing venture, probably a contender for an accidental fatality.

Who’s at Fault?

Finding a fault is the easiest thing to, what is tougher is to find out a cure to this ever-growing problem of teen fatality owing to accidents. How do we curtail this practice, which has seen more and more Joshuas’ loosing lives everyday on the American roads?

If you consider this from a teenager’s perspective, they won’t find a remedy for every teenager loves to carry a beer can in one hand while toying the steering with the other. I no way mean that it’s not their fault, it definitely is, but what I mean is that they won’t be up to any suggestions thrown at them, so we need to shift the focus on the parents and the concerned authorities, as they are the ones who could actually curtail this epidemic status gaining fatal practice.

Parents, not children, could curtail this!

I came across an article on UPI, which mentions that accidental fatalities are the top killer of U.S. teens and Erie Insurance based in Errie has suggested five measures to check more teens from getting behind the wheel and loosing lives.

A brief narrative on those five points and their relevance

The first suggestion is that the parents should recommend the younger ones to use seat belts, as not all of them prefer to use it. Limiting the number of teen passengers has also been advised as a study reveals that the risk of teen accidents increases with a higher number of passengers.

Usage of all modern day doodads viz. mp3 player, cell phones should not be allowed by the elders as they act as distractions whilst driving. Commuting to school is the duration when the teenagers tend to step on the paddle severely, so if they receive a citation this privilege should not be given to them.

The last suggestion recommends prohibition of impaired driving i.e. the parents shouldn’t allow children to drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Contravening the five parameters

If you study the recommended suggestions carefully, the truth is that these points are pre-set rules, which the teens break laughingly. Do you believe that your son would tell you that he is out for a booze party and will drive back home drunk. Had he told you this, you would have never given him the fob and then the recommendation suggests seating lesser passengers, woahh... once they get high, even ten passengers a car is usual stuff

Suggesting an Alternative is futile

I appreciate the effort put in by Errie to reveal that Accidental deaths is the top teen killer but the suggestions are ineffective for they have been around for years and teens love breaking the rules don’t they?

Finding better and more stringent alternatives is the key here if at all this practice is to be curtailed. A saying that has quiet done its rounds in America is that ‘attaining a license is a piece of cake in the US’, which itself points at the problem of teen fatalities. There are different Laws for acquiring legal rights to drive in different states, which in my opinion should be universal and stringent for sure.

Until the authorities aren’t sure of issuing a license or full driving rights teens shouldn’t been driving around and if they are, hold their parents liable and not them for they would continue to do it or otherwise the word teen would have been alien to grammar.

The potency of technology in curbing impaired drivers

Technology could play a pivotal role in preventing teens from getting behind the wheel. Nissan recently introduced its drink driving system, which takes care of a teen driver before the ignition by jamming the car if alcohol is detected. But what about those hoochies who get high on marijuana, how will a system detect hash in the blood. The point here is that every alternative has a restricted sphere, which cannot offer a definite alternative.

The legal authorities themselves issue licenses at the age of 14 in a majority of states, a clear indication that they believe a 14 year old is good enough to handle a car. Understood that every parent feels good seeing their infant get behind the wheel at a very young age but then ask them who have lost their child just because of this flaw.

Embarking on Reason a better choice

The need is to universalize a fixed age prior to which a license is not issued and frankly speaking, 14 is too young an age. You say that I disagree, you may willingly do so, but then when your beloved sleeps at the cemetery, I wouldn’t even have to demand an answer for you would be the one who killed him.

Keeping every parameter aside, do not give your car keys to your child if you believe he lacks the confidence irrespective of the law permitting him to get behind the wheel at just 14 years. In case he has an inclination towards substance use, you are the best judge of it and still if you handover the keys, you would again have nobody to blame.

The last two stanzas are thoughts every parent should ponder over, if you ‘don’t or cant’, don’t just raise hue and cry to reform the law when your Joshua is dead.

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