In the past 3 months student drivers have caused unprecedented chaos with several accidents and crashes, with accidents varying in severity but nonetheless costing thousands in damages. The topic of student drivers has always been a delicate topic, but how many more crashes or accidents are necessary until some restrictions have been put into place?
There are certainly strong arguments in favor of student drivers, as most upperclassmen drive themselves to school and rely on that as their primary form of transportation. Taking this away or trying to limit it would most likely cause an uproar of protest between students and upperclassmen, bringing more harm than good in this situation.
Some students would argue that accidents aren’t really a problem in the first case, as major accidents are far and few, with most crashes being very minor cases that do not result in high damage. Even students involved in automobile accidents would go so far as to say it was more of an inconvenience than a life threatening scenario. “She hit my fender and smashed the front of her car but mine just had some minor scratches on the back, easy fix” , says Senior student driver Ben Sibley. Cases like Sibley come with no real danger, just a simple rear end and a student not paying attention, minor mistake, and neither driver had any real repercussions.
Little to no repercussions are understandable for minor fender hits, but the real danger presents itself when no repercussions are present in severe cases. “I misjudged a left turn and he was going too fast, both our cars were pretty much totaled but I can still drive to school if I get a new car” informed Senior Jaydon Kachappilly. While not being able to go too far into details, the crash totaled both cars with severe damage to both, while no real punishments were dealt out.
The fact that students are proven to be dangerous drivers and yet the school refuses to dull out harsh punishments, or any punishments to speak of for poor driving ability. Creates a very dangerous driving environment especially for students who are driving for the first time being thrust into the world of teenage drivers.
Accidents can happen at any second of any day, all it takes is one slip up for thousands of dollars worth of damages or possibly worse. “It all happened so quickly and I didn’t even process what happened at first… I didn’t even think the damage was that bad until I saw my car…” Described Kachappilly when recalling how quick the accident came and went.
With such a high danger and risk factor, PV needs to step up and give out harsher punishments to try and show students how seriously they need to take this, and how much one’s life can change from losing focus for a couple of seconds.
