Introduction
By the year 2006 Alabama had a population of 4.6 million people, of this number, teenagers of 15-24 age bracket accounted for 14% of the Population. In the entire United States, teenagers contribute about 30% of motor vehicle crash accidents with Alabama among the highest contributors of this. It was reported in the reader’s digest of the 2008 August edition that out of 50 states, Alabama had the 4th highest rate of deaths at 39.8 deaths in 100,000 people (Alabama Highway Department Report).
Teenage driving fatalities have created a major crisis in Alabama despite the good laws regulating it. Laws on licensing procedures, seat belts, and laws regulating drunken drivers need to be reviewed to prevent the upward trend of these fatalities. Those most at risk are teenage males, teens driving with teen passengers, and lastly the newly licensed drivers. Teenage drivers are more likely than their older counterparts to flout traffic rules. They find themselves involved in such undesirable acts as driving above the fixed speed limit, ignoring the use of seat belts, and driving while drunk (Zador et al, 390).
Causes and Effects
There are worrying trends of teenage accidents in Alabama. It is reported that from 1993-2003 in the US as a whole 62,563 teens died from accident-related cases, this means that 5,000 teenagers died every year during that period. The losses and expenses incurred due to these accidents amounted to $US19 billion. Some of the factors that have been reported to contribute to the occurrence of these accidents involving teenagers include driving above the fixed speed limit, distractions while driving (especially from music systems, conversation with passenger peers, and using cell phones), driving at night, and finally peer pressure to attempt a dangerous move.
The effects of such accidents are varied and not pleasing at all. It can lead to a wide range of results from a simple scratch, to delayed appointments, to a broken limp, and finally a lost life. There is also a possibility of property damage, increased hospital bills as well as insurance changes. In (Arnett, 472), he argues that as teens develop to adulthood, they tend to be more curious about their surroundings and every new thing they get their hands on. At this age they will try to do those dangerous moves on the roads while behind the wheels; such moves might cost them their lives and they will never live to see the results of their attempts.
Parents or guardians who are supposed to be role models by giving good examples to their children have failed to do so. Most parents receive calls while driving, ignore seat belt rules, and even carry more than the capacity of the car. Their teens are therefore tempted to do the same or they just do not take the regulations seriously when they finally get to drive.
Conclusion
It is also reported that motor vehicle accidents are the cause of 1 in every 3 deaths of teens within the age bracket of 16-19 years in Alabama. The crushing rate per mile on vehicles driven by the individuals in this age bracket (16-19 olds) is four times more than that of older drivers. And within the same group, 16 years old drivers are twice more likely to crash than 18-19 olds (Green, et al 450). The problem, therefore, requires immediate attention to help salvage the situation and prevent such ugly scenarios from growing from bad to worse.
Driving at night (between midnight and 6 am) and during bad weather conditions have their share in the rising trends of teenage driving fatalities, especially for new drivers. This is so because at night the vision is blurred. This reason, coupled with the factors that have been highlighted above as well as carrying more than the necessary number of passengers results in increased risks of accidents (NHTSA).
Alabama ranks seventh in the US in the number of deaths from lightning and ninth in the number of lightning strikes per capita due to its climatic condition and geographic position. Therefore, further exposure of the residents to more risky situations that may lead to loss of life like car accidents needs to be avoided at all costs.
Bibliography
Alabama Highway Department, Alabama Department of Public Safety , Alabama Department of Economic and Economic Affairs, and Alabama State Department of Education: Alabama Traffic Accident Facts. Montgomery, Alabama, 1996.
Arnett, J.J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist 55(5), 469-480.
Greene, Krcmar, Walters, Rubin, Hale, J and Hale, L.; (2000.): “Targeting adolescent risk-taking behaviors: the contributions of egocentrism and sensation seeking”. Journal of Adolescence, 23, 439-461.
Teen Drivers, Facts: 2008. Web.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Traffic Safety Facts 2000: Young Drivers. DOT HS–809–336. Washington, DC: NHTSA, 2001.
Zador, Krawchuk and Voas; “Driver–related relative risk of driver fatalities and driver involvement in fatal crashes in relation to driver age and gender: An update using 996 data”. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 61(3): 387–395, 2000.