Do Driving Curfews Work for Teens?

 

Today we are going to be discussing whether or not parents of teenage drivers think there should be curfews enforced for teenagers who are driving around your neighborhood. According to teendriversource.org, teens are considerably more likely to be in serious driving accidents after dark.

Driving at night is a different proposition than the daytime and is full of danger for the inexperienced driver. There are issues with seeing road signs, upcoming curves, and other cars driving erratically. Parents of teens are right to be concerned.

Nighttime driving is dangerous for all drivers, but especially so for teen drivers. An illustration of this is that only 14 percent of miles driven by 16 and 17-year-olds occur between 9 pm and 6 am, but this time represents 32 percent of fatal accidents for this age group.

We can do more to lessen the risk.

I know there are curfews of 10, 11, and midnight and various restrictions like that in place for specific age groups in multiple areas.

The COVID-19 crisis means there are curfews for everybody in certain areas. However, we have all seen teens out late sitting in their cars doing various things.

It often leads to them driving at night. Are they distracted by cellphones or friends being loud? Are they consuming alcohol or otherwise impaired?

Curfews are an effective measure to ensure the safety of our kids. Should they be in effect at an earlier time for teens? Should our teens be better educated about the risks of driving after dark?

If this is a subject that interests you, please direct message me below, and I’ll try to figure out what the curfews are in your area and how they are enforced.