Griffin Speaks

TEENAGE DRIVERS

My son Greg Jr. is a parent’s dream. He is handsome, intelligent and the apple of my eye. The only problem I have with him is sagging pants. In six months upon passing the required examination, he will be issued a Class D Alabama driver license with a “Y” restriction. The “Y” restriction indicates that he will be permitted to operate a motor vehicle while accompanied by a parent or guardian who is duly licensed in the state of Alabama or a licensed certified driving instructor occupying the seat next to him. When he turns sixteen, he may operate a vehicle with any licensed driver occupying the seat beside him.  

Greg Jr. has been driving since he was twelve years old on my private property. In fact I believe he is already an excellent driver. I will therefore allow him to obtain an Intermediate License when he turns sixteen. Any person sixteen or seventeen years of age with a license less than six months will have the following restrictions on their license: 

1.) He will not be able to operate vehicle between midnight and six in the morning unless: 

Accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Accompanied by person twenty-one or older, duly licensed & with consent of licensee’s parent/legal guardian.

Going to or from regular work place.

Going to or from school sponsored event.

Going to or from religious sponsored event.

For the purpose of medical fire, or law enforcement related emergency. 

2.) May not have more than four occupants in the vehicle excluding a parent/legal guardian of licensee. (Three friends, driver and parent maximum.) 

Many parents are very nervous when their sixteen year old obtain a license to drive. This nervousness is justified when you consider the following statistics: 

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety; Car wrecks are the top killer of teenagers, accounting for a third of the total deaths, followed by homicide, suicide and cancer; 5749 American teenagers died in motor vehicle accidents in 1999. 

A sixteen- year old driver is three times more likely than older teens and twelve times more likely than adults to be killed in a traffic accident. Highway deaths among sixteen-year olds have doubled since 1975. 

Fifty-five percent of teen traffic deaths usually occur on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and forty-one percent After nine p.m. 

Among teen drivers killed in traffic accidents in 1999, twenty-three percent of males and ten percent of females were legally drunk. It is very important that we stress to our teen drivers not to drink and drive or ride in the car with someone who has become drunk. 

Greg Jr. is already car shopping. He wants me to buy him a new car when he turns sixteen. I have mixed emotions about making such a purchase. So far he hasn’t found a car that he wants that is less than $60,000.00. When he showed me the Lexus that he wanted I asked him if I looked like “BOOBOO” the fool.  

I can still recall the expensive cars that kids from prominent households drove at Morehouse College. I could not believe how parents purchased such expensive cars for their kids. Well I haven’t purchased a new car in ten years. I personally love driving my S-10 pick-up. So when Greg Jr. goes to Morehouse I might just cave in and follow suit and purchase him the car of his dreams if his grades are good and the car cost less than $50,000.00 

In my opinion the best advice that we can give our teen drivers is to “keep their eyes on the road, because when they take them off the road they are looking for trouble.” I hope and pray that my son will heed my advice and become a safe and courteous driver.

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com