Article on under age driving -A Menace
Answers
Underage Driving: A Menace
Underage driving is a serious problem in India. Many children become victim everyday owing to this menace. According to Road Accident Statistics India 1214 road crashes occur every day in India. 20 children under the age of 14 die every day due to road crashes in the country. One serious road accident in the country occurs every minute and 16 people die on Indian roads every hour.
In most of the accidents involving children, it has been found children don’t have road safety sense. Nor do they follow safety rules and regulations. In a majority of cases and incidents children don’t wear helmets. They fall prey to over-speeding.
It is the duty of the elders and the Government to provide safe environment to the growing children. Parents must not allow the minor children to drive motorcycles, scooters, or cars. Though the Government has passed and implemented the Juvenile Driving Act, according to which the guardian /owner shall be deemed to be guilty in cases of offences by the juveniles and juvenile shall be tried under JJ act.
Keeping in mind the shocking statistics, it becomes imperative to introduce learning road safety measures at schools. Schools must make road safety measures an integral part of curriculum. The traffic police must give training of road safety measures to students. They can be taken to road safety learning parks and trained there.
They must be taught good driving skills along with tolerant traffic attitude. At schools road safety weeks and days should be observed. Road safety seminars, workshops, and other similar programmes should be conducted. They must be shown the differences between good driving model and bad driving model. They must be taught that driving on roads is not fun or a child’s play. One must be totally prepared and trained to go on roads.
Parents must be included in the road safety programmes. They must be taught not to give vehicles to their children. The traffic police must organize vehicle training sessions in schools. The students must be given demonstrations on safe driving skills. The traffic police must also be more vigilant. Strict action must be taken against those minors and their parents who break the law.
Answer:
Underage Driving and Road Safety
Many lives are shattered by underage drivers going for a joyride in the vehicles of their parents or older relatives. We are aware of many unlicensed drivers going for the short drive – but often overlook the nature of the risks and the consequences to these youngsters. Parents are urged to familiarize themselves with the risks associated with underage driving. The facts about underage driving:
Teen drivers aged 16-19 years are four times more likely than older drivers to crash Teens are more likely than older drivers to speed, run red lights, make illegal turns, ride with an intoxicated driver, and drive after using alcohol or drugs Inexperience is the reason why these drivers are more likely to underestimate hazardous situations The presence of teen passengers increases the risk of accidents by underage drivers - and the more passengers - the higher the risk Accidents by underage drivers occur mostly on Friday and Saturday nights between the hours 9pm and 6am. Why do underage drivers pose such a significant risk?
The high number of underage drivers transgressing the law by going for a joyride can be attributed to peer pressure and a feeling of youthful invincibility Teenagers have a sense that they can get away with transgressions – a feeling of bravado whereby “ I can get away with anything” This is further evident in research indicating that teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use About 30% of crashes killing young drivers involve alcohol and are often combined with contributing factors such as speeding Not only could these accidents lead to loss of life, but also severe physical and emotional scars on the survivors. Many parents are not aware that insurance companies are only obliged to honor claims from sober and licensed drivers – and they will have to compensate for the damage caused by underage drivers… Advice for parents: