Replying to Dean

As time goes by, old entries fall out of date. They fall out of the main page and wind up stuck in some archives. They’re still there for you folks to enjoy, and comments are still open for old posts. Why not? I’ll see new comments no matter how old the original entry might be. Some stuff is so good it outlasts time and deserves some comments later on. Trouble is, no one would really see it. Shame. Could get some good comments, even if from someone who doesn’t entirely agree. Like this one! From a guy named Dean, responding to my old Teen Driving Fallacies entry from January. I think Dean merits not only a rather nice response but a separate new entry for it even. Enjoy!

Go back to the Teen Driving Fallacies entry to see the comment in full. Here I’ve taken it apart. Now on with it. My responses are in bold.

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I understand your comments. Really I do. I understand that you feel like the “adults” are against the teens (not children).

Thanks. Admittedly, I only feel that way to a certain point, in the whole thing I mentioned in the original entry about gaining political favor. Anything much more than that would be rather paranoid and, ultimately, counter-productive.

But let’s just stick with a few facts. Adults are not out to make your life miserable. Really. The intent is pure… keep teens alive on the roads.

Of course they’re not. They do have good intentions. Who wouldn’t want to keep teens, and everyone else for that matter, alive on the roads?

Unfortunately statistics don’t lie.

I could quote Benjamin Disraeli right about now, but nah. I hate it when people try to use a quote from some famous or wise person (often out of context, at that) and act like that’s any kind of argument or proof.

(Obvious exception to that rule would of course be quotes by Jesus.) 😉

And if you would like to blame someone for all of the rules and restrictions placed against you please place it where it belongs. Yell and scream at those 5800 kids who died in car accidents last year. If it weren’t for them, and the decisions they made, you would not feel so put upon.

Oh, believe me! I do yell at them. Well, the ones who died because they themselves were the drivers and were doing something stupid like speeding in adverse conditions or whatever. Obviously, ones who were merely passengers are not to blame, nor are teen drivers caught in fatal accidents caused by drivers of other vehicles, or the ones who were pedestrians and struck by cars. Trouble is these stats have a way of ignoring just how exactly teens were involved. Not to mention the number you gave doesn’t tell me anything about what geographical area that’s talking about. What is that? A state? The country? A different country? I could just look it up but I’m too tired right now.

On another note, should mention I myself don’t feel all that “put upon”. I’m 22. I grew out of the scrutinized demographic in question, but even so, that’s no excuse for not supporting what I know is right and just, whether it seems to directly affect me or not.

The reality is this. teens lack expereince in life, not just driving, in life. No one is going to make a teen president of a company… why? no expereince.

I have yet to meet a 20-year-old who was far and away more experienced in life than a 19-year-old. Not to mention experience is subjective and varies greatly from person to person. And since when to people ask for age to become president of a company? That’s illegal. As society is now, teens generally wouldn’t because of schooling levels, and president of a company might require higher degrees or something, depending on what kind it is. If said teen founded the company himself, which many have done, I’m sure he’d be some higher-up. If he runs the company well and knows his stuff, what in the world does his experience matter?

Driving is no different, until you gain enough experiences and lived through times of having to make positive or negative judgement calls, you should be helped along the way.

What about people in their 30s who can’t make good judgment calls? And how do you know teens can’t make good judgment calls? The aforementioned number of deaths? Seems like a nasty number, but then I might look at percentages of teens involved in car crashes as well as percentages of other age groups. You know, really not so different. In which case, why be so excruciatingly restrictive on a group based entirely on their age when that really tells nothing about individuals’ maturity or decision making abilities? That certainly wouldn’t fly with any other group.

Parents should be better coaches. My stepson is 17. He feels put upon about why the graduated license he holds means he has to be off the road at 11 pm. I agree with him. I just wish the people who choose to drink and drive shared that opinion. I told him, by giving him a year behind the wheel before facing additional challenges of facing a drunk driver will only increase his odds of surviving. I trust my stepson and his driving abilities. I just don’t trust the drunk drivers. In 8 more months my stepson will be able to drive past 11 pm. and at that time, I think he’ll have a little more expereince in how to deal with other drivers on the road.

Yes! Parents definitely should be better coaches. It would solve this whole problem.

Drunk drivers can be a trouble at any time of day, not to mention lots of other careless folks to wedge themselves behind a steering wheel. That’s why I do not oppose graduated licensing. It’s a good idea. The only problem with it is that it is often age based. It should be in place for all new drivers, even those first starting in their twenties. A 20-year-old new driver is still just that, a new driver, and just as inexperienced on the road as a 16-year-old new driver. Assuming just because of his age that he’s automatically mature on the road, despite having no driving experience, is just plain carelessness.

It sounds like you have a lot of respect for your stepson, which is more than I can say for some people I’ve encountered. For that you get a hearty thumbs-up. :b:

For the record, I liked your blog. I understand everything you said and you did so in an incredibly intelligent manner. You are smart and it shows. Nice job.

Thank you very much! I appreciate it. Glad you took the time to stop by. 🙂

But please know that the laws for restricted driving and such are only in place to give new drivers the time to gain enough expereince before taking on all the hazards that go with driving.

Yup. Like what I said above. Restricted driving for new drivers is a good idea, just wish it weren’t so age-based. But I mentioned that already.

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That about does it with my response. This was fun! And the moral of the story is, if you disagree, be nice and civil here like Dean! Don’t be crazy like css petal. 😆

Yawn. Now I’m tired. Later!