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Make teens responsible for their driving skill
"I'll go," says Christopher, 17, whether it's to pick up a prescription, drop off his brother or mail some letters.
I have never, ever seen my son so willing to go. I have also never seen him so less able to walk. He had to borrow a textbook from a friend. Glancing outside, he noted the rain coming down.
"I'll just drive over," he told me.
"Kyle lives around the corner – literally. You will not drive," I informed him.
I'm tentative about the driving thing. Well, to be precise, I'm tentative about the everything-but-the-driving thing. I'm tired of watching twits of all ages texting as they drive.
While I'm no fan of barrels of bans and endless laws, I can't help but realize if people are too stupid to do the right thing, they need a legal smack upside the head to force them to.
Leaving a plaza the other night, I pulled up beside a young girl at a stoplight. Yes, it's predominantly young women, I'm sorry to say. It stands to reason: as a teenager, I talked on the phone far more than my male counterparts.
This girl never looked up from her phone. So intent was she on LOLing and CULing, she never noticed the light change. She tuned out the inevitable horns that started honking.
It took me another moment to realize that was because she had earphones in.
Now, I'm sure Helen Keller was a fine, accomplished woman. But I guarantee she would have been a lethal driver.
You cannot voluntarily take leave of most of your senses and still drive competently.
I've told Christopher he can't have his phone on while he drives. And no, I can't mommy him to death when he's not in front of me, but I've never waited for government intervention to lay down rules in my home, and I'm not going to start.
He's been told if he gets speeding tickets or other violations, he will be off my insurance. We pay about 85 bucks a month for him – we split it, and I will not pay more.
The fear isn't about a police car, it's about me.
I think that's fair. Driving isn't a right, it's a damned expensive privilege.
A friend of his ran a stop sign the other day, and got ticketed. I asked what her parents did. Apparently nothing, except pay the fine.
Really? They paid the fine? I wouldn't pay the fine. And I wouldn't let the kid drive for a while, either.
When I told Christopher he couldn't have his phone on, he smiled.
"Ah. But what if I have it on vibrate?" he asked.
"You think I hear vibrate from my end? No, I hear ringing. I'll know it's on," I told him as his smirk faded.
Am I old and cranky because I think people should ditch the phones and earplugs while they drive or cycle or walk in traffic?
Probably, but the only way to get old is to be careful, and if you're old, you've earned the cranky.
Lorraine Sommerfeld's column appears Saturday in Wheels and Mondays in
Living. www.lorraineonline.ca
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