Dangerous Driving and The Effects on Youth
In today's society, dangerous driving is criminal and is also considered to be deviant. There are different levels of dangerous driving, all of which have different meaning to different people, some are considered part of the social norm and others are considered to be deviant. Speeding for example is considered to be a norm of society. Everyone speeds and this is not considered a problem which needs societies immediate attention, however there is a line which changes speeding from being a criminal offense to a deviant offense. The following analysis will provide a descriptive summary of the functionalist perspective, the social control theory and the power control theory.
These theories have been applied to a news story in which two young teens from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Renee and Danielle Orichefsky, were killed in a dangerous driving accident. The driver was Ralph Parker, a twenty year old man from Halifax who lost control of his sports car as he attempted to make a turn on the corner where the girls were sitting. This article involves the day of Mr. Park's conviction, the reaction of the girls' parents and also the reaction of Mr. Park's mother.
The problem of dangerous driving as viewed from a theoretical standpoint can easily be identified with the social control theory. The control theory questions not what motivates individuals and society in general to indulge in societal deviant behaviour but rather examines what is within the structure of a society that causes individuals to conform to social laws. A social control theorist would argue that it is social pressures that prevent people from acting out in deviant manners; otherwise people would act upon inborn animal impulses.
In this case, Mr. Park it seems felt the need to drive his sports car very fast and dangerously because it catered to his instinctive need for excitement. If
Mr. Park had been thinking about the possible consequences of killing two young girls, he may have decided to slow down and be a little more careful. This is because murder is a deviant act in our society and committing murder would not be socially acceptable. Thus it can be concluded that that the structure and organization of society is very influential in determining the conduct of ind... ... middle of paper ...
... to exist. A man who drives slowly and with caution is portrayed as a wimp. A power control theorist would say that this young man was playing on the “natural “ male instinct to drive in this manner and have some fun.
Risk taking, which is the another factor is very relevant to this case because Mr. Parker took a risk in driving dangerously. The irony in this case is that people who speed or drive recklessly do not see the danger of killing people as the big risk when they are offending. They are more concerned with the risk of being caught by the police for the crime that they are committing.
Someone who is driving recklessly knows the consequences of having an accident, but they may not be important to that person at the time of their action which is deviant.
Formal state of control considers that opportunities to deviate are more restricted for females than males. The freedom to take risk is given to boys, this may have been the case in Mr. Parker's family, he (it is assumed) did not have a father figure and took direction from his mother. A power-control theorist would argue that women give more freedom to their sons.
In order to prove themselves, men usually attempt unhealthy and destructive acts to perform their courage and fearlessness, but these actions are prone to suicidal and various other types of out of control or untouchable behaviors. Michael Kimmel states, “Men ages nineteen to twenty-nine are three times less likely to wear seat belts than women the same age”(Kimmel 468). Mr Kimmel quoted data to claim that young men assume safe driving as emasculation. As long as men are driving a car, using a seatbelt means that they are afraid of injury or death. Besides those, it also represents that this man cannot completely control his car; on the other hand, he is not masculine.
In this article written by the author Bruce Feiler, titled “Teenage Drivers? Be Very Afraid”, he talks about how he suggest the parents to stop being helicopter parents and allow their children to be independent. However, other professionals’ suggestions are the opposite when teenagers start to drive. As a result of the teenagers’ immaturity, the parents are told to be more involved because their child’s life may be in danger. As stated in the article by Nichole Moris “the most dangerous two years of your life are between 16 and 17, and the reason for that is driving.” There are various factors that play huge roles through this phrase of the teenagers’ life: other passengers, cellphones, and parents. In 2013, under a million teenage drivers were involved in police-reported crashes, according to AAA. The accidents could have been more but many teenage accidents go unreported. As a result, one of their recommendations to the parents is to not allow their children to drive with other passengers: other passengers can big a huge distraction and could increase the rate of crashes by 44 percent. That risk doubles with a second passenger and quadruples with three or more. Furthermore, as technology has taken over teenagers’ lives, the parents should suggest to those teenagers who insists on using the phones that the only safe place for it to be: in a dock, at eye level, on the dashboard. The worst place is the cup holder, the driver’s lap, and the passenger’s seat. Next, professionals also suggest that the parents implement their own rule and even continue the ones like the graduated driver’s licenses regulations. This regulation includes restrictions like not allowing their children to drive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. To
to their future criminal behavior, they commit the crime because they have been associated by
A Mark IV Toyota Supra and Chevy Camaro SS pull up at a red light on a lonesome stretch of flat road amongst a dimming blue sky; the drivers nod at one another, rev the engines, and jam the accelerator pedals. When two drivers try to outrace each other on public streets, automobile driving makes a turn into the illegal form of motor racing known as street racing. Several possible causes to this aggressive street driving include a recent release of movies that inspire racing by the desire to fulfill the adrenaline rush raging in young people, the overall convenience of street racing, and most importantly, a way for teenagers to achieve nobility status in a short a time.
Driving while drunk is one of the very dangerous things in the life of a driver. Drivers who work under high Blood Alcohol Concentration also known as (BAC) usually expressed as a percentage of ethanol in the blood consisting of alcohol per volume of blood or alternatively mass of alcohol per mass of blood. These drivers are at a great increase of car risk accidents, vehicular deaths as well as highway risks. Drinking under the Influence commonly known as DUI simply refers to driving a motor vehicle while one has level of alcohol in their blood exceeding the legal limit. This is not limited to alcoholic content but covers other drugs that include but are not limited to prescription drugs. This leads the driver to lack coordination, experience double vision, brief blackouts and have a slurred speech. Driving under the influence causes brain impairment leading to a person feeling that they can manage a situation just like they have always handled it before. This is always as a result of poor reasoning and judgment which leaves one vulnerable to the deadly effects of drunk driving.
The media's view of adolescence, alcohol and driving is extremely clear. Almost every article, report or documentary on these things (especially when they are combined) portrays irresponsibility, danger and/or violence and aggression. To put it more clearly the media's view on the situation that occurs or can occur when adolescents are left to make their own decisions or choices is that any given adolescent will choose to drink alcohol and most likely choose to drive while under the influence. Here are a few examples (extracted from articles, publications and the web) of how the media views adolescents, alcohol and driving: · Use of alcohol and other drugs is associated with the leading causes of death and injury (eg. vehicle crashes) among teenagers and young adults. (Centers for Disease Control {CDC}, "Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among High School Students--United States, 1990," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report {MMWR}, 11/91, p. 776).
Statistics show 16- to 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger, which is due to distracted driving. Taking your eyes off the road for 2 (two) seconds, at 60 mph, means you have driven blindly for half the length of a football field. The risk of fatality is 3.6 times higher, when they are driving with passengers than when alone. For many years, the correlation between driving behavior and age has interested highway safety researchers and administrators. It is general knowledge that the greatest risk of motor vehicle crash...
Do you know how many people die every day in the United States due to drunk driving? If not, here is the answer, approximately twenty-eight people die because of drunk driving. There is not a day that has gone by without having an auto accident relating intoxicated drivers and no days without an ambulance running on the street with emergency lights on chasing for victims. In 2014, 1.1 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence and 9,967 people were killed in alcohol related crashes. Alcohol slows down the activity of the person’s central nervous system, including the brain which makes them react slower and reduce concentration while driving. In order for one to drive safe, he/she has to be sober and active without any distraction.
What is as dangerous if not more dangerous than murder and suicide? A car accident is. Being in the seat of a vehicle put’s a driver’s life in jeopardy the instant they are in the seat of a vehicle. Adam Ford explains drivers licenses were issued first in the 1900s and conditions have changed substantially: More powerful cars exist, and more are on the road (Ford). With this notion, Ford explains why cars are more dangerous on the road; however, the types of cars that exist in present times are not the sole reason the road is more dangerous. John Pearson states, car accidents are the leading cause of death from ages three to thirty-five world-wide (Pearson). Mainly, drivers cause these car accidents. Cellphone usage in the US is one of the central contributors to car crashes, because the habits shaped from cellphone usage, such as texting generate danger. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 500,000 people were injured and 5,500 were killed by distracted driving in 2009 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The road has become a progressively hazardous place with distracted driving on the increase. Additionally, alcohol misuse causes increased danger while in a car. Ralph Hingson, a Sc.D., states that of all alcoholic-related crashes in 2002, 4 percent caused death, and 42 percent caused injury. Hingson further asserts, in dissimilarity of the crashes that did not involve alcohol, 0.6 percent caused deaths, and 31 percent caused injury (Hingson). Deaths and injuries increased this much cannot be taken lightly. Furthermore, age is also a factor in why car crashes have increased in the last decade. Youth drivers are the primary users of cellphones, which means that they text...
Driving is something people do everyday. Although many people do it well, some do not, that being said the legal age to drive should be raised to twenty one years of age. The driving age should be raised because teens at the ages of fourteen through twenty should not be behind the wheel for the simple fact that they are just too young and too inexperienced to drive, also someone of that age can get more distracted than a person who is twenty-one or older and has had some time to mature and become responsible enough to operate a motor vehicle. “In the United States, 16–19-year-olds have the highest incidence of motor vehicle deaths among licensed drivers and motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15–20-year-olds.” (Haggerty
In fall 2008 Ryan Didone was with four of his friends, when he hit a tree with his car. He died at the hospital as 15 years old. Captain Thomas Didone works at the police department, and he is Ryan’s father. He never thought he was those parents who would get a phone call like that. If it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone. Ryan’s father was with his son, the day he was born, and he unfortunately had to be with his son, the day he died, and he never wishes that to any parents. It was an inexperienced, and immature driver and to high speed at night with some other kids. He was going too fast. Ryan gave serious trauma for the rest of the community.
...ture a risk-taking species. In ancient times we took risks just to eat. Later we took huge risks by setting out in little wooden ships to explore the earth's surface. We continued as we sought to fly, travel faster than the speed of sound and to head off into space. We rely on increasingly more complex equipment and constantly strive to design and manufacture faster and even more elaborate devices. It goes without saying that every effort is made to ensure our "safety"; to keep us from harm or danger. Every time you slide behind the wheel of your vehicle you are taking a risk. Driving is the riskiest activity in our lives. It is an inherently "unsafe" environment. The most perfect vehicles on the best designed highways on beautiful sunny days driven by fallible human beings crash into each other. The only way to drive "safely" (as we are all admonished to do!) is to learn more about the process. Learn more about your vehicle and how to maintain it; learn how to use your eyes to look far down the road; learn to spot problems before they happen; and also learn to deal with emergency situations. In most cases it's the human element that fails. After all, safe is only as safe does.
Richard Petty once said “You’ll got home safe, so drive safe, and stay safe.” Being a racing legend, he is an advocate for safe driving to minimise the cases of road crushes that have been on the rise. He double up as the chairman of the Veterans’ Safe Driving Initiative, the initiative is aimed at guiding the veterans returning from deployment on safe driving tips. It is necessarily important since the infrastructure has changed over time. Another initiative is being run in Minnesota where the teens are guided on the important safe driving tips. Study shows that more crushes are likely to occur in teen driving than veteran driving. It is also evident that young drivers are more likely to cause a crush within six months of passing the driving test and young male are worse than the females in the field.
In a society much like today 's, driving has become one of the most essential ways of transportation. In some major cities, people may not drive themselves but rather take a bus or a train. Both of which have a driver though who drives a motor vehicle and encounters traffic and struggle while on the road, Also in today 's society, technology has increased so much that many features of driving or being in a car require hands off the wheel ways to change the settings. For example, to turn or the seat warmers or even coolers, a driver must take one or both hands off the wheel, track the motion of their hands with their eyes and then push the correct button. In some cases, the button may not work which would prolong the time of hands off the wheel
The hook is why teens should drive at a young age. Without the license could be an