Introduction
People were behaving incorrectly long before the first automobile was constructed. People were breaking the law way before they discovered the technology as we see it nowadays. No matter how you look at it, in most the cases, it is the individual who stands behind wrongdoing and who should be held responsible for her or his actions. Not so long after the first automobile was introduced into everyday life, people eventually started to violate the speed limit (Barjonet 161). Even knowing that it is dangerous to their life, health condition, and the safety of other people, the individuals kept on doing it.
The government had to act quickly and passed several acts prohibiting the violation of the speed limits set by the régime. Obeying the laws turned out to be one of the toughest tasks for the drivers, and nowadays we see numerous cases of the individuals who disregard the policy for their own good (or, at least, they think so). Every day we see the news on social media and television and hear it on the radio that quite a few persons were involved in countless fatal crashes that led to serious consequences (E.g., open fractures, concussions, spinal injuries, and even death).
The problem is that people, despite the vividness of the issue, still disrespect the traffic rules and believe that they are skilled enough not to get caught up in an accident or hurt a defenseless pedestrian (Dorn and Sullman 22). Nonetheless, it turns out to be that they are not and the choice they made on no occasion should be considered “good” or “correct.” The two major units of the traffic society – drivers and pedestrians – have to be aware of the dangers of speeding and be able to mitigate the occurrence of the cases of violation of the speed limit.
Speed limit violation among young drivers
In spite of the occurrence of the speed limit violations, people do not usually pay enough attention to the issue of speeding among younger drivers. It is rather evident that underage drivers are one of the broadest cohorts of drivers that are exposed to the maximum number of risks. The statistics show that around 35% of the total number of incidents that involved young drivers resulted in death or severe injuries. The cornerstone, in this case, is the fact that the majority of young drivers are not fully capable of assessing the risks awaiting them on the road. Instead, these underage drivers gain bogus confidence and drive recklessly just because they want so (Constantinou et al. 1325).
There is no exact answer to the question of whether young drivers recognize the danger of violating the speed limit. This issue is rather complex and necessitates a multifaceted approach in order to be resolved accurately. The majority of the young drivers who get in an accident are usually (but not always) illiterate in terms of mutual respect in traffic and general notions of safety employed by the drivers’ community.
Especially strict measures of punishment should be introduced to young drivers who are viciously breaking the speed limit (Scott-Parker et al. 243). Principally, the loss of control of the vehicle and head-on collisions are the outcomes of underage irresponsible driving. It should also be underlined that the young drivers are exposed to more risks than their adult fellow motorists. These risks critically affect the situation on the road and are dominant among underage drivers.
Factors contributing to the speeding among young drivers
Needless to say, there are numerous factors that contribute to the speed limit violation in young motorists. There are four key aspects that are regularly considered to be the most influential. Those include the psychological factor, peer pressure, driving under the influence (driving while intoxicated), and risky behavior.
Psychological factor. The first and the foremost factor contributing to the occurrence of the speeding violations among adolescents is their psychology. It is essential to pay attention to the fact that underage drivers, for the most part, do not have a completely formed personality. This means that they are exposed to the exterior influence and absorb almost everything they see and hear around them (Gibbins et al. 229).
The fact that they are forming their subjective outlooks on the basis of what the people around them say has an enormous impact on their perception of other people’s behavior and viewpoints. Needless to say, adolescents’ driving norms are as well deformed in compliance with their surroundings. If a younger driver has seen an experienced driver speeding at least once, they would be certain that it is acceptable to do it. What is even more terrifying from the psychological point of view, this kind of conduct usually turns into a habit over time.
Unarguably, there is nothing worse than a driver that obtains a habit of speeding at a young age. This situation is currently becoming a tendency for the reason that there are not enough adult role models among the experienced drivers (Barjonet 166). This leads to a situation where the young drivers who developed a habit of violating the speed limit become the role models for an even younger group of drivers who just got their driver’s licenses. To conclude, the key priority of the instructors is to educate the future drivers in a way that would help them understand the psychology of a motorist and what are the implications of being an underage driver. This should at least partially prevent the incidence of speeding among the young drivers.
Peer pressure. Yet another issue that is closely related to the psychology of underage speeding drivers is the peer pressure. In most of the cases, young motorists look up to their friends and acquaintances in terms of driving experience and overall conduct. A young driver who has never before violated the speed limit might break the law simply because he or she was insulted. It may happen that peers offend the inexperienced drivers if they drive too slow, hesitate at the traffic lights, etc. Peers may also try to give a reason for speeding and try to support it with evidence. One of the most frequently happening events is the rejection.
This means that the driver’s friends could threat ending a relationship or friendship simply because he or she does not drive fast enough to pass the speed limit (E.g., “You’re such a coward, I will break up with you if you do not speed up”). Eventually, this ends up in the underage speeding and results in major issues. Peer pressure not only affects the driving habits and provokes violations, but as well impacts the personality of the underage driver in many ways.
These deformations will lead to a higher probability of collisions in the future due to the established false feeling of sureness. Peer pressure is one of the few underrated factors that contribute to the number of underage drivers that violate the speed limit. The majority of the traffic accidents relating to the influence of peer pressure happen when there are multiple passengers (peers) in the car.
DUI/ DWI. This issue is much more relevant among the adult cohort of drivers. Nonetheless, due to the both of the preceding factors (psychology and peer pressure), underage individuals start drinking and driving early. The act of alcohol consumption dampens the clarity of mind and the sense of self-preservation. The impact of alcoholic substances is adverse, and it does much more damage to the younger part of the drivers’ community. The intoxication is usually characterized by the loss of focus, inability to think rationally, longer reaction time, and overall irresponsibility (Constantinou et al. 1330).
The majority of the DUI underage drivers tend to violate the speed limit without acknowledging the dangers of driving drunk. This exposes all of the road traffic participants (including pedestrians) to the major risks of accidents resulting in injuries or demise. The fact is that even a 2-year driver’s license suspension because of driving under the influence does not stop underage drivers from speeding. Currently, more and more young motorists are pulled over by police officers. The reason that they are driving drunk is that they are influenced by their peers and ubiquitous advertisements encouraging alcohol consumption.
The issue of speeding while driving intoxicated put the government in the position where they had to toughen the penalties. In fact, those various restrictions had little effect on the speeding cases occurrence rate, but those measures helped lessen the number of underage motorists driving under the influence of alcohol. The most upsetting fact about the young drivers is they usually get drunk and get behind the wheel relatively laid-back and rather enthusiastic. It is important to understand that there is practically nothing that could stop an impaired underage from driving a car (often, with his or her drunk peers in it).
Risky behavior. Driving hazards stated to be more widespread among young motorists contain extreme speeding, breaking the speed limit for the excitement or basically driving too reckless for the circumstances, not keeping a proper headway time, utilizing a cell phone while driving (together with texting), disrespecting road traffic guidelines, and driving in the dead of night (Cestac, Paran, and Delhomme 426). Moreover, carrying several persons along for the ride, especially, the passengers of the same age, is a much bigger risk for young motorists in comparison to mature skilled drivers.
Dangerous driving in underage, inexpert drivers meaningfully upsurges their risk of getting in an accident. Mostly, this happens for the reason of showing off in an attempt to impress other people. Risky driving becomes a habit in a short period of time, and speeding is one of the major outcomes. Additionally, recent research supposed that risky driving actions happened even amid underage drivers who alleged the behaviors to be unsafe. That is to say, realizing an action was risky did not prevent some underage motorists from engaging in that conduct.
This may be why teaching curricula that just emphasize on extending the facts base on driving dangers and refining conduct has not been proved to decrease genuine risky driving conduct or accidents (Dorn and Sullman 90). The research discoveries offer to back for robust graduated authorizing structures controlling the modern motorists from getting involved in the perilous driving situations and durable implementation of these commandments by the law enforcement agency to guarantee high levels of obedience.
All these four factors are generally interrelated and cannot be taken into consideration separately. What is much more important – all these predictors of speeding should be evaluated by the community and authoritative organizations in order to minimize the number of underage drivers that violate the speed limit. The community might try putting more effort into the education and training that would actually help the underage drivers understand the severity of speeding.
Lessons learned from the experience
Reckless driving leads to adverse consequences. This is why young drivers should be recommended to take several steps to understand the importance of complying with the speed limit and respecting other drivers and pedestrians. There are three main aspects that the underage might want to focus on.
Responsibility. This is one of the most important personal traits. All of the underage drivers and their instructors should pay attention to this characteristic. Regardless of the age group of the driver, he or she should be accountable for his or her actions. Paying respect to the essential and obligatory traffic rules is one of the traits that makes a good driver (Gibbins et al. 201). Even skilled adult drivers sometimes tend to violate the speed limit, so it is central to not to let speeding become a habit among the younger drivers.
Each and every road user should realize and accurately assess the risks that the act of speeding imposes on the surroundings, other road users, and pedestrians. Being aware of the issue – is a half of the solution to it, so it is rather reasonable to raise the question of responsiveness among the drivers (Dorn and Sullman 43). If the road users do not act in compliance with the rules, the issue of speeding underage motorists will become invincible.
Each individual has to realize the key factors in his or her conduct that lead to the speed limit violation and work hard to get rid of them. The lesson that should be learned from this experience is that when getting behind the wheel, the driver should take full responsibility for his or her actions. It is indispensable to behave correctly in order not to get in trouble or cause any damage to the driver, passengers, or others.
Healthy lifestyle. Another issue that should be approached is the lifestyle of underage drivers. Research shows that over the last ten years the number of traffic accidents that involved drunk drivers has increased drastically (Scott-Parker et al. 244). Out of all those accidents, almost 50% involved underage motorists. In this case, the alcohol consumption rate is the key factor contributing to the number of head-on collisions. Alcohol consumption affects numerous parts of the human body and weakens the driver’s observation ability. Driving a car is a complex process that necessitates the motorist to be focused, cautious, and precise.
Alcoholic substances slow down the processes in the driver’s organism subsequently increasing the chances of being involved in an accident. Moreover, alcohol commonly affects the motorist’s self-esteem and tolerance, therefore making the driver impatient and overly confident. These traits provoke the driver to show everyone their exceptional skills. There were cases when such attitude and behavior became a habit, and people could not separate the conventional norms of the traffic conduct from their subjective view of the world.
Driving a car conform the road traffic regulations is a responsibility of every road user, especially in the times when more and more drivers (including both underage and adult) get behind the wheel drunk and disregard the speed limit. It would be practical to offer rehabilitation centers to the drivers who suffer from addiction to alcohol. Nonetheless, the punishment for driving drunk should be strict and beyond controversy (Cestac, Paran, and Delhomme 428).
Decreased risk taking. This outcome is the unquestionable bottom line for all of the lessons learned from the speeding experience. The violation of the speed limit is an inexcusable wrongdoing that should be penalized strictly for the reason that the majority of the actions performed by the speeding drivers present a major risk to everyone. The faster the motorist goes, the higher the risk of occurrence of an accident rises (Gibbins et al. 232). Despite the experience and confidence, most of the young drivers fall for the chance to go faster than it is indicated and impose the dangers of their conduct on the environment and surroundings.
This especially should be taken into account when there are several passengers in the car, as the driver is responsible not only for his or her life but the life of the passengers as well. When driving a car, taking a risk means exposing the driver and the other persons along for the ride (especially considering the evidence that a great percentage of those accidents happen due to the fault of the driver who was influenced by the passengers. E.g., “Please, drive faster or we are going to be late”, “Why are you going so slow? There is no traffic ahead”).
Conclusions
Speeding is obviously bad and should never be tolerated. By driving too fast we impose pressure on other people, risk our health, and present a moving danger to the traffic and pedestrians. There are various aggravating factors, such as driving while intoxicated or exceeding the speed limit by 30 mph or more. Young drivers should be taught properly, and the training should highlight the importance of obeying the speed regime. Certainly, there are numerous psychological and other personal aspects that might not let mitigate the risks of driving too fast. Nevertheless, underage drivers can learn important lessons from both their own and other individuals’ experiences.
The government may also introduce specialized programs that would be focused on decreasing the number of young motorists driving under the influence of alcohol. Our society should be ready for the change in order to comply with the commandments. It will take a common effort and hard labor, but the advantage of a respectful and law abiding driver community is evident. Underage drivers will have to prove their competency and act professionally when on the road. They should as well learn that confidence is not a bad personal quality, but it takes the experience to keep the speed of the car above the speed limit avoiding any complications that would probably result in an accident and a number of injuries. It should be taken into account that a subjective view of the world and peer pressure might interfere with the training and driving experience so appropriate measures should be taken.
Works Cited
Barjonet, Pierre-Emmanuel. Traffic Psychology Today. New York: Springer, 2013. Print.
Cestac, Julien, Françoise Paran, and Patricia Delhomme. “Young Drivers’ Sensation Seeking, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control and Their Roles in Predicting Speeding Intention: How Risk-taking Motivations Evolve with Gender and Driving Experience.” Safety Science 49.3 (2011): 424-32. Web. 29 Aug 2016.
Constantinou, Elena, Georgia Panayiotou, Nikos Konstantinou, Anthi Loutsiou-Ladd, and Andreas Kapardis. “Risky and Aggressive Driving in Young Adults: Personality Matters.” Accident Analysis & Prevention 43.4 (2011): 1323-331.
Dorn, Lisa, and Mark Sullman. Advances in Traffic Psychology. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2012. Print.
Gibbins, R. J., R. G. Smart, W. Schmidt, R. E. Popham, H. Kalant, and Y. Israel. Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems. Volume Eight. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2013. Print.
Scott-Parker, Bridie, Melissa K. Hyde, Barry Watson, and Mark J. King. “Speeding by Young Novice Drivers: What Can Personal Characteristics and Psychosocial Theory Add to Our Understanding?” Accident Analysis & Prevention 50 (2013): 242-50.