Not Just Teens

I came across this story on WRAL's Facebook page about how a new state law requires teens who commit a traffic misdemeanor (like speeding in excess of 15 mph over the limit) are to be arrested and brought before a magistrate. They supposedly spend a short amount of time in jail to give them a "taste" of what it's like. The move is geared toward saving lives but, does it really? This leads me to a point I've been preaching on for years: why just teens? I understand that they are more prone to speeding and causing accidents but, come on. As a teen, I believe this has gone way too far. What's being accomplished by doing this? I personally don't think it will change how teens drive. There will always be someone out there who disobeys the law and drives recklessly. It's a fact of life, unfortunately. Plus, why are adults not being targeted as well by this new crack down? Can't they just as easily speed and cause accidents? Trust me, I see countless numbers of people zooming up and down I-40 or other roads and most of those drivers are well out of their teenage years.

As my usual opinionated self, I commented all over this post and got some pretty interesting feedback, some things insulted me and some did not. One commenter, who was apparently a police officer, wrote about seeing dead teens at accident scenes and the like and he kept on with the message of "saving lives." Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving lives myself but, focusing on teens only will not solve the problem. We have to focus on and educate everyone regardless of how "experienced" a driver they are. In the end, we're all human and we all make mistakes.

Now, to the insulting parts. I used the phrase "picking on teens" in my comments because I felt that's exactly what's being done here. Some people didn't like that at all and blatantly diagreed with me. In general statements (not necessarily directed toward me) one commenter gave kind of a play on this "pity party" saying "boo-hoo" and called teens "big babies." Another commenter was a little more direct and said my opinion was "arrogant" and "flawed" but later said he understood where I was coming from. I, respectively, fought back but I'm still insulted by the whole matter.

You know what I think should be done? I think the state should invest in quality driver's education programs for teens and others who want to drive. NC recently cut funding to driver's education programs, forcing students who wanted to take the classes to pay a fee. I would guess that many families would not be able to afford such a thing. That would force students to wait until they're 18 to get a license, putting them on the road with little to no formal driving education. How can we expect teens and/or new drivers to obey the law if their only real form of driving education is, basically, taken away?

In the end, I hate that teens get the short end of the stick because, not all of them actually are reckless drivers. I, for one, am not. Adults, in my opinion, can just as easily cause accidents due to speeding as teens can. People think that adults are more "experienced" drivers but most are really just as reckless as teens are! We must focus on both groups instead of singling out one! Yes, let's put our teens in jail with the very people we don't want them to be around. Smart move North Carolina!

What do you think? Should teens be thrown in jail if they're caught speeding? Tell me what you think by commenting below!  You can check out the post by clicking here, and the full story here.