By Lexie Tiongson, Voice Staff Reporter
In the United States today, there have been many laws changed and bills passed due to risky teens and driving. For example, the age when one may receive a driver’s permit, drive other people as a teen, and the time the can drive late at night.
The passage of these bills has actually lead to another significant question. Should teens be allowed any electronic devices while driving? This question was the basis Senate Bill 33 which states, “This bill prohibits persons who are under the age of 18 years from using a wireless telephone or other mobile service device while operating a motor vehicle.” This means that if a driver is seen using a cell phone and appears to be under 18, they can be pulled over and cited. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed this bill into law two weeks ago.
According to SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving), “Persons ages 16-20 years old had the highest fatality and injury rates per 100,000 population due to distractive driving.” Many teenagers do not even realize how much of a risk they are in until they have to face the consequences.
However, the question that few have asked is: How do teens feel about this new law? Seventeen year old Tammy Taxara states, “I agree with this law, in the two months that I’ve been driving, I’ve seen 3 people completely run red lights, all of them on a cell phone and obviously too busy to notice.” Teens actually have a different perspective of this law than most people would’ve expected. They agree and feel that it cell phones should be banned while driving.
It is also important to note that this measure does not address all of distractions for teen drivers. According to another SADD statistic, “Nearly 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event.”
While the extent to which this new law will improve teen driving is yet to be seen, it is clear that more education is needed about the dangers of distracted driving, especially for teen drivers.
The passage of these bills has actually lead to another significant question. Should teens be allowed any electronic devices while driving? This question was the basis Senate Bill 33 which states, “This bill prohibits persons who are under the age of 18 years from using a wireless telephone or other mobile service device while operating a motor vehicle.” This means that if a driver is seen using a cell phone and appears to be under 18, they can be pulled over and cited. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed this bill into law two weeks ago.
According to SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving), “Persons ages 16-20 years old had the highest fatality and injury rates per 100,000 population due to distractive driving.” Many teenagers do not even realize how much of a risk they are in until they have to face the consequences.
However, the question that few have asked is: How do teens feel about this new law? Seventeen year old Tammy Taxara states, “I agree with this law, in the two months that I’ve been driving, I’ve seen 3 people completely run red lights, all of them on a cell phone and obviously too busy to notice.” Teens actually have a different perspective of this law than most people would’ve expected. They agree and feel that it cell phones should be banned while driving.
It is also important to note that this measure does not address all of distractions for teen drivers. According to another SADD statistic, “Nearly 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event.”
While the extent to which this new law will improve teen driving is yet to be seen, it is clear that more education is needed about the dangers of distracted driving, especially for teen drivers.
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