Is this a positive move which will save lives or a direct attack on teen freedom? Will it drive down the demand for car use from love-crazed couples? Is this one more example of excessive molly-coddling in an over-protective society?
Barcelona, 24 oct (EFE).- El RACC ha propuesto hoy que los
jóvenes que se saquen el carné de conducir tengan que ir siempre acompañados
por un adulto durante los primeros meses, para tratar de reducir la
siniestralidad, ya que los jóvenes tienen un 30% de posibilidades más de morir
en accidente que el resto de conductores.
En rueda de prensa, el gerente de programas de la Fundació
RACC, Xavier Ruestes, ha advertido que, pese a la evolución positiva de la
última década, en la que la mortalidad de jóvenes de entre 15 y 29 años en
accidente de tráfico ha pasado de 20 a 6 al mes, la probabilidad de que un
joven muera en accidente de tráfico en Cataluña es un 30% más alta que la media
de la población.
En este sentido, Ruestes ha advertido que un joven que se
acaba de sacar el carné de conducir tiene cinco veces más posibilidades de
sufrir un accidente en su primer año al volante que un conductor experimentado.
As a teenager, I think that banning young drivers from driving without an adult is reasonably pointless.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, young people start being more independent at the age of 18, which is the age when you can first acquire your driving licence. At that age, they need their cars to go to university, to go with their friends or to go somewhere at nigh time. Casually, these are the places where parents would not necessarily accompany ‘children’. So, is this desired? Personally, I think that it will avoid young people wanting to have their driving licence and buying cars, and also, most important, it will take autonomy from them.
Secondly, I think that requiring someone to drive with and adult can also have a negative side. For example, the teenager can get more distracted when driving with an adult than when driving alone, as he would not be a hundred per cent concentrated because of the adult’s presence, and this might lead to a car accident.
I also think that it is fairly illogical making a teenager drive with an adult, as the adult can drive instead of him. As a result teenagers will neither need nor want a driver licence.
On the other hand, I think that they are doing this to reduce car accidents, which is positive, but my opinion is that there are more ways to do so. For example, making it more difficult to get the driver licence by making the practical and tutorial tests of a higher difficulty is a perfect idea. This would make sure that only prepared teenagers can get the licence.
Maybe they should think it twice before doing this and get in the place of the teenager.
Laura Adan
I must say that I mostly agree with Laura but there is a mistake as during this last month I have been taking lessons to achieve a driving license if I pass the exam whenever I finally decide to examine, so it is not only accessible if you are older than 18. Actually, when you are 15 you can drive a motorcycle which has a speed limit of 45km/h. I had not heard about this at all, it was never mentioned to us and that is because it is not probable it is going to happen. This is just a statement that RACC have decided to expose because I suppose that they want to frighten teenagers as some do not drive sensibly.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it also depends on at what point a driver is considered dangerous but as well as there are many teenagers who do not drive prudently, adults too! Experience may be a very important skill which you gain over time but having your parent next to you won’t make you gain it faster…will it? I sincerely do not know what the point is and I hope this law does not go any further, as the only consequence will eventually be teenagers not telling their parents they have to drive, as they will not want to be escorted by them.
Judith Aldabó
I certainly agree with Laura and Judith about the bizzareness of this:
ReplyDeleteIf there is 30% more probability the young drivers die on the road it means the test examinator should be strickter with the ones taking the test. The drivers taking the test usualy have a negatie aspect which is lack of experience (usually youngesters).
In order to decrease this probability the examiners should me more accurate when doing their job. This would reslut on a change on the way drivers prepare for their exams and would improve directly their skills. Aiming to pass the driving test and achieving the license they would probably train themselves harder; more often, in a different way or even intensively.
The problem can be solved with other changes and without involving this law as we acorded is not adecuate.
There are some other things I would also like to mention which haven't been said about RACC suggesting that young drivers should be accompained by an adult in order to decrease victims on the road during their first months driving with the license.
In my opinion the application of this law would be a disaster as it has lots of errors:
On the first place if the percentage of deaths on the road is being lead by youngersters as we said before is due to their unexperienced skills. The thing is young drivers is not the same as young people who drive; There are also old people who start driving late, the law should also be applied to them as they are too unexperienced.
Secondly i ask: How would the supervision of an adult make the ride safer? It would probably as judith said distract the driver, nerves would make him ride worse and not better. It is a cure which makes the problem bigger, it is not solving it.
Thirdly if young people have more chances of having an accident while riding we would not only increase this number but kill the adults who where riding next to the drivers.
I am totally against the application of this law.
If RACC wants to imrpove young drivers situation it surely has to analyse the ideas its employes have in a more professional way before proposing them to the public.
Georgina Bastida
In a certain way I do agree with Laura and Judith, I think that forcing young drivers to drive with an adult beside is not an excellent option. Driving with your parents could be worse than driving alone since you can get nervous if you have someone beside who keeps telling you what to do or how to drive, you can get angry and feel useless which can make you lose your concentration and this can end in an accident.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand this law could be helpful if you consider that young drivers are inexperienced and sometimes they are not aware of the responsibilities that go with driving a car. Many people think that just by having their driving license they are professional drivers and aren’t conscious of the possible damage they can cause. This kind of people are the most likely to have accidents.
In conclusion, I think that, even with the disadvantages that this new rule would bring, if it can help saving lives it will be worth trying. We are just talking about the first few months of having your driving license, not all your life, not even one year, so I don’t think this new rule would really attack anyone’s freedom.