Around two in the morning, four 16-year-old boys were left a party where they were drinking and began driving home. The driver only had his license for a week. Additionally, he was tired and fog and rain created and extremely low visibility. The other three, enjoying their time laughing and joking around, distracted the driver from the road. The driver, speeding down the road, began to fall asleep. He slowly edged toward the six-foot ditch on the side of the wet, saturated road. He suddenly awoke and swerved to the left. The car hydroplaned and flipped over. None of the passengers had on seatbelts. The car rolled twice and landed on its side; none of them survived. .
At 16 and 17 years of age, teenagers see driving as a "show and tell" rather than a serious responsibility. Their limited knowledge of the road, as well as inattention, becomes a powerful potent for disaster. Teen driving is the number one leading cause of death in the United States (Wims 1). That's 5000 dead teens per year (Robinson 1). Though many precautions are taken to ensure that teens are sufficiently prepared for the responsibility of driving, statistics indicate that teens are still the most hazardous drivers on the road. Teens have a feeling of cockiness and invulnerability. They think, "Oh, it won't happen to me," and this causes the extreme catastrophes everyone too often hear. .
Teens are the most dangerous drivers on the road because of their immaturity, lack of experience and emotional state. .
The initial problem teens face when getting their license is meeting the requirements. Usually, a teen must hold a learner's permit for a certain amount of time before they can be qualified to receive a license, yet it is not always a requisite. A survey in 1995 showed that all states offer driving permits. However, only 30 require a permit .
before receiving a license and only 11 of the 30 states specify the permit must be held for a specific time ranging from 14 days to 90 days.