Having a daughter who has been driving for a few years and a niece who is about to get her permit…and watching their friends drive has gotten a bit under my skin lately.
As we live in a country with the lowest driving age (shared by Canada and parts of Australia - 16) and I know that some back-assward states let kids get permits at 14…
I started to look at some statistics. They frightened me!
• There are more than six million car accidents each year in the United States.
• A person dies in a car accident every 12 minutes and each year car crashes kill 40,000
people.
• The leading cause of death for individuals between 2 and 34 years old is motor vehicle crashes.
• Someone is injured by a car crash every 14 seconds and about two million of the people injured in car accidents each year suffer permanent injuries.
• Over 25% of all drivers were involved in an auto accident in a five-year period.
• Excessive speed is the second most common cause of deadly auto accidents, which accounts for about 30% of fatal accidents.
• Car crashes cost each American more than $1,000 a year; $164.2 billion is the total cost
each year across the United States.
• Car accidents are the leading cause of death for kids between 2 and 14; About 2,000 children die each year from injuries caused by car accidents.
• Each year, almost 250,000 children are injured in car crashes, meaning nearly 700 kids are harmed every day.
• Car accidents are the leading cause of acquired disability nationwide.
Now why can’t we get on board with the rest of the world and raise the minimum driving age to 17 or even 18 ?
When I see things like this….
I get furious! (Fine…I may be prone to road rage….but this is why)
Your thoughts?
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