The Role of the Government in Ending Road Accidents Due to the Careless Driving - Case Study Example

IDЕАS, INNОVАTIОN AND СОMMUNIСАTIОN by Student’s Name       Code+ Course Name Professor’s Name University Name City Date Introduction The young drivers in Australia have turned up to be a nightmare on the Australian roads due to their ignorance on the laws governing the roads in the country. The young generational drivers are the most dangerous group due to their incorporation of driving with some activities that are a threat to the road users. These groups are the leading in the abuse of drug substance, alcohol and in several occasions drive on roads while using their cellular appliances (Machin, & Sankey, 2008, p.544). The young drivers in the country require maximum attention enable them adhere to the laws of the road. Majority of them do not observe the night rule where the law of the country requires them to be driving only up to midnight and then allowed again after 5 am in the morning. Parents in most occasions have offered their children a lot of freedom in a way that they trust them too much to an extent that they even allow the teens to drive vehicles the whole night making them go against the laws stipulated to guide young drivers in the country (Boufous, Ivers, Senserrick, Stevenson, Norton, Williamson, 2010, p.276). The area is of great interest since recently the number of young drivers crashing in car accidents has increased. It is therefore important to address the issue so as to solve the lives of our future generation from the accidents that can be prevented. The only solution to the issue is through advocating very stern laws that prohibit young drivers from driving vehicles in a manner that is prohibited by laws. The government therefore is the principal stakeholder in the ending of the menace in the country and therefore, the paper will also address the role of the government in ending road accidents due to the careless driving by the teen drivers (Ferguson, 2003, p.76). The paper will also state the best solution to the problem and give out the punishment that will be subjected to those individuals that will go against the stipulated law. Literature Review The youth especially a teenager is a stage that is characterized by rapid physical and psychological changes and it is at this stage that the young individuals progress from being dependent on their parents to independent adults in the society. This period of change has been complicated by the technological, economic and social transformations that have occurred in Australia for a long period of time. The young drivers in Australia are more vulnerable to the influences of peer pressure and in most cases these teens are tempted to make risky experiments which the results could end up being fatal. Young individuals will always want experiment what others do and in several occasions the experimentations do not work for them and this is the reason why the government should place stern legal obligations so that it serves as a warning for those that may be tempted to do the same. A research conducted in Australia in 2007 examined the youths especially those in the age bracket of 15-24 years found out that most of the youths engage in risky behaviour like drinking of alcohol, abusing of drug substances and careless driving without observing laws set by the government (Hosking, Young, & Regan, 2009, p.588). The Australian Law does not allow people below the age of 18 years to be served with alcohol. Although it is illegal in the country, majority of young under the age of 18 years have access to this illegal substance. The risk of young children having access to alcohol is that it impairs their thinking and because the young people have difficulties in controlling themselves, in most cases therefore, they are involved in fatal accidents on the roads and they end up harming the individuals who are innocent road users. Young individuals in the country according to the statistics that was conducted by the National Drug strategy Household, are on the verge of driving the under the influence of drug substance and alcohol. Most of them have the tendency of driving when they are under the condition of fatigue and therefore they tend to lose concentration while driving where sometimes they over speed the situation that result to occurrence of accidents in Australia (Boufous, Ivers, Senserrick, Stevenson, Norton, Williamson, 2010, p.276). The statistics indicated that people responsible for ensuring that the law is upheld are not serious with their obligations and this is what has resulted too many accidents caused by the young people on the roads. The young people are not also educated on the dangers of over speeding and to some extent they don’t have the idea of what they will experience in case they break the law by driving careless. The driving risks that the statistics indicate to have been common among the young drivers comprise: speeding for the thrill or certainly driving too fast, excessive speeding, driving to close the other vehicles that they are following, communicating and chatting through their mobile gadgets whale driving, driving at night and violation of the traffic rules. In addition to the above risks, the young drivers are prone to carrying more passengers and in most cases it is unfortunate that the passengers are the young children and the teens that end up not observing traffic rules by ignoring to put on safety belts. Several young people have been crashed in roads due the fact that the young drivers lacked adult people in the vehicle to guide them and therefore in the process of displaying their prowess, the vehicles end up crashing with almost all the passengers (Boufous, Ivers, Senserrick, Stevenson, Norton, Williamson, 2010, p.276). There is a big correlation between the driver age and the crash occurrence on the Australian roads. The studies also indicate that young people are at a greater risk of being involved in the road crash than the adult drivers. This is because is because adult drivers have more experience on roads and understand best the terrains of the country unlike the inexperienced young drivers who do not have competent skills to drive of the roads. The young drivers only understands few basics and in most occasions do not uphold the rules of the roads while driving. Many studies have made to determine the issue of age versus experience in the area of driving in the past three decades in Australia. The studies that were employed faced insufficient measures of determining driving experience, therefore, making it difficult to determine further the relationship between crash involvement on the roads and the experience of the driver (Machin, & Sankey, 2008, p.544). No probable attempt has been made to illustrate the factors that are linked to early acquisition of the license and the increased number of crashes in the country. This constraint has thrown some doubt to the studies that were previously carried out on the issue calling in for further studies that will incorporate all the aspects that are required to determine the exact involvement of the increased number of accidents among the young drivers in Australia and all over the world. The relationship between the crash occurrence and the age of the driver has been termed to be the central focus of the study. This is because of the high number of young drivers that are currently involved in the road accidents than the old ones. It is said that of the ten accidents that occur in Australia, seven of the accidents are caused by young and inexperienced drivers who do not adhere to the laws and regulations governing the use of the roads (Machin, & Sankey, 2008, p.544). Most of the young drivers drive carelessly and they don’t have that experience that is required on the roads and therefore in most cases they end up being a nuisance to other road users and themselves. The law enforcers have been found to be negligent a factor that has contributed a lot to the increased number of accidents since the young drivers today no longer fear the traffic police. The studies also have been contacted to determine the incidence of accidents between the young male and female drivers. The results have found out that most of the accidents that involve the young drivers comprise the male drivers. This is to say that most of the young drivers that do not comply with the road rules and regulations are male drivers and therefore the government should focus all its efforts towards educating the male driver and teaching them the impacts that is associated with driving carelessly. It is also reported that most of the accidents involving the young drivers occur at the restricted time of the night. Young drivers are not supposed to drive vehicles past midnight until the next day in the morning but there have been most of the incidences where young drivers have fallen prey to accidents by driving during the time that is restricted for them to drive. This indicates the loophole in the law governing the roads. The people responsible to ensuring that the law is enforceable are not doing their duties well and therefore have create a conducive environment for more accidents in the country since most of the youths are tempted to drive during the night because of poor law enforceability (Tay, 2005, p.925). The research also indicates that alcohol greatly influences the ability of an individual to drive the vehicle safely. Young drivers are often the most affected group by the consumption of very small amount of alcohol. Combining drugs with alcohol impairs the young drivers at large extent and therefore this puts these drivers at high risk of being involved in the car crash. Drugs can influence the young drivers negatively such that it affects the way they make decisions on the roads or it affects the way they react to the emergencies. Therefore combination of alcohol with other drug substance is too deadly to the young drivers and other innocent road users. It has also been determined that most of the young drivers find themselves consuming alcohol and other drug substance due to the influence of peer pressure. Peer pressure is at an increased rate among the young drivers in Australia and all over the world (Deery, 2000, p.227). The young drivers are attracted to drinking due to the increasing need to be part of a group and therefore they always want to be accepted by their peers which lead them to indulge into this bad behaviour to please their peers. Several social situations have contributed to young individual ending up in consuming and misusing alcohol and other drug substance at their tender age. Most of them are likely to end up drinking before they engage in driving and it other occasions young people are tempted to accept to be carried by the drivers who are drunk. For instance, in a car that comprises full of young individuals, it is difficult for young drivers to resist the temptation of over speeding and driving carelessly. This is because the young drivers will want to embrace their young counterparts and make them know that they know to drive in style. They also do this by not wearing seatbelts and even avoid wearing seatbelts. Statistics also has indicated that most cases of overloading the passengers in the vehicles are common among the young drivers. This is very dangerous since most of the passengers that are young are put at risk of accidents (Deery, 2000, p.227). Going against the demands of the group is difficult among the young drivers and therefore they find themselves at risky situations while trying to please their peers. Discussing these issues with the teens will assist them to make important decisions that will assist them when faced with similar situations in future and hence the Australian government has put most of its efforts trying to empower the young drivers. States of Australia have banned the use of hand –held mobile while driving. Studies indicate however, that mobile phone use increases the speed, reduces and interferes with the attention of the drivers and this puts the young drivers at a risk of being involved in car crashes. The risk of death increases highly when using the mobile phones by the young drivers than when not using the mobile phones while driving. Distracting of a new driver on the road is very risky. Most of the Graduated Drive Licensing techniques focus to minimize distractions on the roads. There are several kinds of distractions that young drivers engage into while driving on the roads and they include; CD players, radios and the noise made by the passengers. Majority of the passengers who distract the drivers are the young individuals who make a lot of noise in the vehicle. However, the most commonly type of distraction that is very dangerous that has been found out by many researchers is the use of mobile phone while driving. Young drivers are more likely to be influenced by the use of mobile phones and in most cases the accidents are very fatal since it involves the drivers losing total concentration while on the roads. The young drivers have the tendency of taking the distractions likely since they find it to be pleasing to them and therefore end up being distracted which lead to severe forms of accidents that claim their lives in return. It is reported that in Australia about 9% of young drivers are prone of using mobile gadgets while driving on the roads currently. The study indicates that the risk is not as high to adult drivers as it is to young drivers. The effectiveness of restrictions of the use of the mobile gadgets by the young drivers depends on the compliance and further depends on the level of the enforcement of the law (Christie, 2001, p.13). Some studies also indicate that young drivers learn some of the things from their parents. It is therefore clear that the parents have a big influence on the behaviour of young drivers. Most of the drivers imitate what their parents do and therefore the parents should be the target group in case the government wants to eliminate the rate of accidents on roads especially those involving the young drivers on the roads. In their first year of driving, young drivers tend to emulate the driving techniques and habits of their parents (Lam, 2003, p.915). The parent’s habit will impact on the driving behaviour of the young driver either negatively or positively depending of the scenario that the parent takes child through. Studies further indicate that the parent’s positive role modelling has a great potential in impacting on their child’s future driving behaviour especially on the children of between the age of between 5-19 years. The Australian government therefore should work hand in hand with the parents to ensure that the young drivers drive according to the stipulated laws on the road. This is because the parents are the pillars that are responsible in the driving behaviour of the children as most of the children tend to take their parents as their role models (Machin, & Sankey, 2008, p.544). Questions for Further future Research At what age is the young driver required to be allowed to drive on the roads? What role can the government play in ensuring safety of the young drivers? I the knowledge gained in the currents study applicable to every individual in the society or the young drivers alone? Reference List Boufous, S., Ivers, R., Senserrick, T., Stevenson, M., Norton, R., & Williamson, A. 2010. Accuracy of self-report of on-road crashes and traffic offences in a cohort of young drivers: the DRIVE study. Injury Prevention, 16(4), 275-277. Christie, R. 2001. The effectiveness of driver training as a road safety measure: An international review of the literature. In Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference, 2001, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Deery, H. A. 2000. Hazard and risk perception among young novice drivers. Journal of safety research, 30(4), 225-236. Ferguson, S. A. 2003. Other high-risk factors for young drivers—how graduated licensing does, doesn't, or could address them. Journal of Safety Research, 34(1), 71-77. Hosking, S. G., Young, K. L., & Regan, M. A. 2009. The effects of text messaging on young drivers. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 51(4), 582-592. Lam, L. T. 2003. Factors associated with young drivers’ car crash injury: comparisons among learner, provisional, and full licensees. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 35(6), 913-920. Machin, M. A., & Sankey, K. S. 2008. Relationships between young drivers’ personality characteristics, risk perceptions, and driving behaviour. Accident analysis & prevention, 40(2), 541-547. Tay, R. 2005. The effectiveness of enforcement and publicity campaigns on serious crashes involving young male drivers: Are drink driving and speeding similar?. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 37(5), 922-929. Read More

 

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