What was once an American tribal rite of passage into adulthood now shows signs of losing its symbolism. Today's "New York Times" reports that the number of 16-year-old drivers nationwide has dropped from nearly one half to less than one third. What gives?
The "Times" cites a number of reasons, though the most likely is that cash-strapped public school districts no longer offer cheap driver's education. Increasingly, parents must enroll their kids in pricey boutique schools, which gives them more bargaining power to say, wait a few years.
But the culture among kids is changing, too. Despite the tremendous freedom offered by the automobile, many teens are hitching rides with friends--or relying on their parents to chauffeur them. Whatever the reasons, it's good news to drivers and to teenagers alike. Some 38 percent of all deaths for Americans aged 15 to 20 involved automobiles, according to the "Journal of the American Medical Association." The rate of car crashes drops dramatically even between the ages of 16 and 17. There's obviously nothing magical about the age of 16. Rather, it's the lack of experience for beginning drivers. Some 33 states now use graduated licensing programs that are showing signs of early sccess for reducing accident rates of beginning drivers.
Sources: New York Times, JAMA, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Whew!
