Charge the passengers of hoons
You often hear that emergency services personnel dread attending car accidents and informing families about fatalities.
They are no joy for journalists either.
You sort of become hardened after a while, but it’s never easy to write about a life being lost, especially if it was a young man speeding.
Nothing can restore a young life to family and friends.
When the passenger of a hoon driver dies it really rankles.
While the alleged driver has to contend with the judicial system, it’s interesting to ponder the culture that condones young people driving recklessly and the responsibility of passengers in such circumstances.
Hoon driving continues to be a major social problem.
Fearless young men continue to drive fast, often under the influence, with little thought for their own safety or other road users.
You have to wonder why the lesson is never learnt.
No amount of education, public awareness or punishment seems to have the desired outcome of preventing tragedies.
Responsibility must ultimately rest with the young people themselves.
While an intoxicated young man may have false bravado, the people around him need to step in and apply restraint.
Perhaps the government should legislate against passengers who knowingly travel with drunk drivers.
If a driver records a blood alcohol level of more than 0.1 the passengers should face the same penalties as a driver who records a blood alcohol level of .05.
That may deter some from putting themselves at risk.
Tags: behavior, law, motoring, youth
It is always disturbing to learn about these awful statistics. Sadly it seems responsibility always comes at great cost.
I wonder if changing how driving licenses are granted would help, raising the age to at least 25 before getting a drivers permit?
Evidence suggests brain development is not completed before the age of 25-28.
The adolescent brain is a work in progress and this is the time of risk taking behavoiur when brain development is influenced by brain chemistry and a combination of seeking new experiences.
Moral development and moral reasoning, being concerned about the conventional level of living as parents and society demands require cognitive ability and social skills, not achieved during adolescence.
Perhaps the hoon driving behaviour will continue as long as driving licenses are granted to those as current practice alows?
I think the driving age in South Australia certainly needs to be looked at. In most states, people can’t drive until they’re 18, here it’s 17.
Yes, young people (especially men) take risks, and I did things 22 years ago I wouldn’t do today.
But peer pressure should come to bear.
That’s where making passengers partly responsible for driver behavior might assist.
I FULLY agree with holding passengers in charge of their own lives (except in the cases of minors). If more passengers were held accountable for their own safety I think most would wise up a bit.
Driving age in Pennsylvania, as in most US states is 16. I feel that is far too young. I wonder if raising the age will be an effective deterrent or if it would instead incite some resistance.
Drive at 16 in Pennsylvania? The idea horrifies me. I wonder what the casualty rate is. Then again…
I was a late starter in driving and didn’t get my licence until I was 21. I avoided the lunacies of some of my classmates who started at 17 but I still needed about 5 years to get to what I would call seasoned proficiency. Perhaps that bump in stats for 17-24 year old males would simply move up the age brackets a bit if the age was increased for first issue of a licence. However, I’m sure the absolute numbers would decrease … a seventeen-year-old will definitely try things a 21yo wouldn’t.
As to charging the passengers, I honestly can’t see that working. Not unless it can proven that they were actively inciting the driver. Those people putting surveillance cameras in their kids’ cars may have the answer to that!
BTW, check what Anastasia wrote on our blog about Gordon Ramsay. If that’s true about the backstreet kitchen, what a ripper.