Young Drivers: A Legacy of Bad Driving

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Young drivers are constantly being criticized in today’s society for what is wrong with our highways and streets. Drivers between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five years old are blamed for the most accidents resulting in deaths and serious injuries. Numerous television commercials, magazine articles, and internet ads target young motorists. These ads and community service messages urge young motorists to change their bad habits and be safe while behind the wheel. But who is really to blame for those bad habits? It is time to take a hard look into society’s driver side window and change the bad habits that “experienced” drivers are passing down to young motorists. A little girl about four years old is playing outside in her front yard. Her mother and father laugh and take pictures as the little girl carries on and acts “all grownup.” She is seated in her my-size, motorized pink car. Laying on the horn, she turns to the doll that is currently her passenger and cries out loudly, “I AM GOING TO BE LATE!” The little girl’s parents continue to laugh and smile. The make-believe motori...

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