On Buying Your Child a Car

       Don’t.

       In the October 2009 issue of Pediatrics a study by Flaura K. Winston, a pediatrician  and clinical researcher at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, shows a strong correlation between teens who have use of their own cars and accident rates.

       An astounding one in four teenagers who have primary access to a vehicle (either owning or being the primary driver of a family car)  are involved in an accident. These teenagers have twice the crash risk of teenagers with shared access. They were more almost 25% more likely to be using a cell phone while driving as well as 25% more likely to be driving 10 MPH  over the speed limit. They also found that the first year after receiving a license is the most dangerous.

        Why?

        Children learn that things get broken as they grow through experience. Toys, windows, dishes, arms, etc. They know they can get hurt. They probably know other people can die. But most don’t think of the possibility that they can die. 

         When teenagers become drivers they are well aware that they could damage the car or themselves. But they don’t believe they will seriously injure or kill themselves.  They think they are invincible.

        Most of them won’t practice safe driving to protect themselves. But they will drive more carefully to protect their property.

        Tell them early they will have to buy their own car.  You can help them out but let them know it’s a one-time thing. Let them know they will be responsible for any repairs. You don’t have to make them pay for auto insurance, but make sure they are responsible for any increase in the premium due to tickets or accidents.

         Some will argue that it is better to buy your child a newer car with all the safety features than have them buying an older one they can afford. Perhaps. Or perhaps having all those airbags surrounding them will make them even more likely to be reckless. I don’t know.

        You know your child better than me, better than the Government, better than Dr. Winston. You will have to make your own decision and live with it. This is just something to think about.

Overture

This is my blog.

I plan for my blog to be a continuing series of short posts on a variety of topics which I hope you will find interesting.  I will be editing this post as it evolves.

My main goal is to provide new ways of looking at things on a wide variety of topics. This means no rants and very little discussion of Politics or religion.

I would like to be a Supreme Court Justice or a Columnist when I grow up. The former is not going to happen at my age and I’m not sure the later will either so I am going to settle for the middle ground and write my own column here.