"It doesn't matter how smart teens are or how well they scored on the SAT or ACT. Good judgment isn't something they can excel in, at least not yet. The rational part of a teen's brain isn't fully developed and won't be until age 25 or so....Adults (age 25 and over) think with the prefrontal cortex, the brain's rational part. This is the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment and an awareness of long-term consequences. Teens process information with the amygdala. This is the emotional part. In teen's brains, the connections between the emotional part of the brain and the decision-making center are still developing—and not always at the same rate....teens have overwhelming emotion.... (and are not) thinking as much as....feeling." (1) Parenthesis mine, Joda Collins.
"...motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of death to teenagers...." (2)
Because of the realities above the following are very important relative to driving a vehicle.
1. A person prior to age 25 must be committed to keeping the rules of the road, simply because they are the rules of the road. Without developed good judgement, the rules of the road are the safeguard for protecting his or her life and the lives of others when a young person is behind-the-wheel. Drivers who feel the rules of the road do not apply to them, that they can select which rules they like and will honor -- and which rules they dislike and will violate do not have the necessary maturity or tools to be entrusted with a vehicle that can cripple or kill with one childish decision.
2. A person prior to age 25 who rejects the idea that they need to be a safe driver before being allowed to drive on their own is not mature enough to be entrusted with a vehicle. If the highest goal of a pre-25-year-old driver is just to drive well enough to pass the State driving exam at the minimum skill level, that driver is not mature enough to be behind-the-wheel.
3. If a pre-25-year-old shows disrespect for a qualified-person that is trying to help them become a safe driver, that driver is too immature to be entrusted behind-the-wheel of a vehicle. The height of immaturity is to discount and disrespect those who are committed to helping you.
4. If a pre-25-year-old shows disrespect and/or lack of gratitude for the person paying for professional driver's training for him or her, that sense of entitlement (you owe me/you exist to serve me) will carry over in their driving in the form or careless, reckless and/or aggressive driving. Said driver lacks the maturity to be behind-the-wheel.
Drivers, regardless of age, who:
A. Are committed to keeping the rules of the road including the rules they do not like and/or do not understand.
B. Realize that safety behind-the-wheel is important.
C. Respect the qualified-person who can and is trying to help them become a safe-driver and
D. Appreciate the financial investment and sacrifice of those paying their way
are mature enough to be trusted behind-the-wheel of a vehicle.
Drivers, regardless of age, who are NOT committed to keeping the rules of the road including the rules they do not like and/or do not understand, do NOT realize that safety behind-the-wheel is important, DO NOT AND WILL NOT respect a qualified-person who can help them become a safe driver and CANNOT OR REFUSE TO appreciate the financial investment and sacrifice of those paying their financial way through life are NOT mature enough to be trusted behind-the-wheel of a vehicle.
It is not a mistake that the Lord Jesus Christ did not begin his public ministry until he was 30. In Jewish culture, a boy begins his journey into adulthood at age 13 and completes that journey at 25. From age 25 to 30 life is experienced and lived at the level of adult thinking. After five-years of adult level experience and not sooner, a man of good character is deemed-qualified to advise others on how to think, act and live.
There is a reason why the average driver has six vehicle crashes in his or her lifetime with three of them prior to age 25 and three after age 25.
There is a reason why vehicle insurance companies give much lower rates to 25-year-old people than 18-year-old people!
There is a reason why between the ages of puberty and 25 young people become more and more aware of the wisdom their parents had all along!
If a person, prior to age 25, is not yet mature enough to drive that does not mean that person has a character flaw. People mature at different rates. Not being fully mature because of the normal development of the brain does not mean the person is a bad person. However, driving a vehicle in traffic is a life or death action. Children in heart (emotions), mind (decision-making), attitude (everyone owes me because I am the center of the universe) and action (I want it my way and I want it now no matter what it costs others) should not be voting, getting married, carrying a loaded gun, leading others or driving a vehicle. It is that simple. (3).
Joda Collins
Joda Collins Driving Academy
Pensacola/Milton, Florida
www.jodacollins/spotlight/lulu.com
www.JodaCollins.com
(3). In light of this statement the question has to be asked, why is an 18-year-old allowed to carry a loaded weapon in the US Military? Young people in the military are heavily supervised. The punishment for violating rules is severe. That meets the criteria for #1 above. Number 2 above is a requirement and instilled in military personnel that carry loaded weapons. Number 3 (respect for authority) is drummed into the life of a soldier from day one in the military.
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