Idiot of the Week
 

This is off of my local newspaper article about an incident I witnessed after school involving a 1993 Ford Exlorer, a 1985 mint condition Lincoln continental, a 1972 Cadillac and a classsic ferrari.

I will type up the article...

A crash last week at 1581 Ridgeview Roard warns of potential tragedy, neighbors said.
A 16 year old high school student was driving a 1993 Ford Explorer at approvimately 3:15PM( I must include I saw him go at about 40MPH) when he took a fast, right turn off Mt. Holyoke Road onto Ridgeview Road, and lost control of his vehicle, according to Upper Arlington Police.
The driver was charged with reckless operation and his car was towed, according to police.
"after turning the corner(he) left the roadway on the southside, driving across a sidewalk, striking a car(1985 continental) in the driveway of 1581 Ridgeview," according to the report. The youth crashed into Fred Durant's 1985 Lincoln Continental and hit a basketball post, bending it.
The Lincoln was hit with sufficient force to knock it through the wooden garage door where it struck a 1972 Cadillac inside, pushing it into the rear wall and out of the garage, according to the report. Another classic(ferrari- don't know what year) was struck by debris, breaking its rear window, according to the report.
"The community could have been in a state of mourning if anyone had been on the sidewalk when the driver came around the corner," said Fred Durant, owner of the damaged vehicles.
"I am also thankful there were no kids on the sidewalk at that instant," Durant said.
He said he has lived in his UA home for 17 years and student drivers have always been a problem.
Durant said he heard the crash, but did not see it happen.
"I thought the electric transformer had blown, but I opened my garage door and saw my car crashed through the garage door," Durant said.
"A lincoln and the '72 Cadillac are HEAVY cars," Durant said.
Durant said he talked to the boy, and he did not appear to be hurt. Durant said the boy appologized and was concerned whether he would be able to drive after such an incident. The boy told Durant as he turned the corner, he felt the car was going to tip over and was trying and was trying to correct that, Durant said.
There are no tire marks from braking on the street, but there are tire marks in the grass next to Durant's driveway and on his driveway where the car apparently slid to the right before impact with the Lincoln.
Durant said he has been in contact with the boy's insurance company and they have been cooperative. His insurance company was out there within minutes, Durant said.
The Lincoln is considered totalled, Durant said. The cost of repairs of the other two cars is still being determined, he said.
"I talked to the boy's mother and she was in tears. She couldn't believe it happened either," Durant said.

The rest of the aritcle talks about previous history on the area.

Its idiots like him who have insurance companies jack up our insurance costs because they don't trust us, and I don't blame them either.

I am also pointing out that he got his liscence 2 days prior to the incident!:eek:

Just thought I would share this and see what you guys think

I may be old fashioned in my thinking, but why allow kids to drive at age 16 when they are not considered legal till 21 to buy beers? I do not think kids should allow to drive till they are 21, and driving school is mandatory. It is daily news that teenagers are killed on the road because of excessive speed and their inexperience. At the mean time the adults have a blind eye to their kids behavior. The sad part is alot of these talented young kids are wasted for nothing. My 2 cents.

Hey that's mean! I'm 18 and I drive my 300CD like a grandma... well not.. but I never speed.. maybe b/c I can't.. :p

Well I think that they should bump up the age to 18 and have much more schooling. I can tell you personally that the driving school in my state is a joke.
It makes me angry that I have to pay high insurance costs because these kids can't drive slow. Alright, you're not a very good driver. Don't drive fast then. All of the dangers of driving are lessened when you're going slow.

I'm not trying to start a flame war, however, what does age have to do with anything? :confused:

I agree that driving school should be manditory (or at least give an incentive such as reduced insurance rates for those who pass) but raising the age limit by 2 years or even 5 years in not going to change anything IMHO.

Ultimately it is the level of maturity of the person behind the wheel that creates these situation. You can't get experience without experience. ;)

I agree, ATLEAST 17, and maybe even 18. My first year of driving I had 7 tickets! Was too immature to be driving. ATLEAST 17... driver training has already been more than tripled here in CA, thank god.

The state of Texas recently raised the driving age from 16 to 18, not that it matters. Just tossing this in.

I suspect more states are rethinking the driving age. As was pointed out by a previous poster, age is irrelevant. People can be irresponsible at any age.

Now Texas will have virgin drivers entering their freshman year of college. I'm not sure this is going to solve anything. We'll have college age people with 2 less years driving experince.

I belive it all starts at birth WITH constant involvement by the parents. Now-a-days, we have the singular - parent. Just doesn't work.

My 2 cents.

I think the class would help because I took one for my insurance rates and it was a ok class. I drove the first time when I was 14 in a 2500 GMC Suburban and my parents said I did good so I could drive in our community (gated) when ever I wanted. Class will help but nothing is better than experince in my opion.
BTW
In Nebraska if you live outside of the city at 14 you get a liesnce to drive to school.:)

Age has nothing to do with the ability of one to operate a motor vehicle. I drove much more responsibly when I first got my driver's license than some 21 year olds do. We need stricter penalites for idiots that screw everything up. One thing I always find amusing, is that at age 16, you can legally rent an airplane and fly solo, but you have to wait 5 more years to rent a car, and even then pay more than you should in order for them to allow a 21 year old to drive a rental car.

When my son got annoyed when I resisted letting him drive at an early age he called his grandmother, my mother, to complain. She said, after a very short reflection of her experience with young drivers (me) and said "I don't think anybody under 25 should drive:eek: "

It's not about age, it's about maturity and responsibility.

This thread may have put a spotlight on one unfortunate incident by one such 16-yr old youth, but there are many fatal incidents involving drunk drivers who are FAR past the legal driving age.

I agree with PaulC regarding handing over the keys to a street rocket over to a 16-yr old neophyte of the city streets. That makes as much sense as teaching your son how to shoot a gun, and then giving him a howitzer on his first solo outing.

One reason why insurance companies charge higher premiums for males is because many of them treat their vehicles as 2-1/2 tons of additional metal hormones...although lately, I have noticed more aggressive driving behavior among the young teenage girls as well.

If my daughter was 16 (or 18) today, I'd be looking for a W126 for her to cruise around in... ;)

I still think age is important. Sorry to offend so many.

When you are under age, wrecked and killed somebody. You are a minor. Hand smacked, no problem, do it again tomorrow.

If you are an adult, wrecked and killed somebody. Vehicular homocide - jail time.

Would you think twice before you are irresponsilbe then? Sure, plenty of adults still DUI, speed and agressive driving. You cannot change someone once they establish a habit.

No doubt, experience is more important than age. Thats why I said driving school should be mandatory. In Eurpoe, driving school means you learn how to do basic car maint, so you know and understand what your car can and cannot do. Here in the State, driving school means you know how to start a car, know what left and right turns are, you don't even need to know what Yield means (see it everyday) let alone the Stop sign.

Someone recently told me that in Germany its eighteen months mandatory of REAL driving school. Can anyone confirm this? Sounds like a good idea to me.

I cannot confirm but I have heard 1 year of schooling.

I agree that driver education is where it's at. It's FAR too easy to get a driver's license in the USA. A GOOD hands-on driver education course should be MANDATORY in schools, or you get no license. It should be required without exception, as insurance coverage is.

A slightly higher driving age probably wouldn't hurt--18 would make sense, so that you are legally an adult, and thus are fully responsible for the legal consequences of unsafe speeds, recklessness, drunken driving, etc.

Mike