My judgement tells me not to participate in this thread... but here I go again...
Quote:
Originally Posted by BMW Fanatic
Why is this irrelevant? Regardless of age, every ones human. There is no saying a kid will automatically be less safe than an adult just because of age and life experience, or rather, lack of.
|
Someone mentioned this earlier, but I think its worth mentioning again:
"Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group. In 2009, eight teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries. Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash." - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
I rotated through the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore during my training. Predominately its associated with shootings/stabbings, your general inner city violence. But what often gets overlooked are the large number of young people that end up there in the summertime because of MVAs. In fact, I got to do my first chest tube on a teenager that got flung out of a car driven by his best friend.
That's not the worst story though - the worst was standing outside of a patient's room listening to this teen bawling to her parents apologizing for an accident she caused... and she was now paralyzed from the waist down.
Sorry BMW Fanatic, yes older people get into accidents too, but these numbers don't lie. Younger people are at higher risk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jqsmooth
I wish I could go back in time and talk to the 18 year old me and knock some sense into him. Not just about cars and driving, but everything about life. That's all I have to say.
|
Amen to that jgsmooth, I turned out just fine (I hope), but there were many things I didn't have to learn the hard way. And btw - I also own a 2002 Pathfinder that's still going strong.
So as to not totally thread jack, the best piece of advice is know your kid. You know what kind of kid she is, can she handle the responsibility of this, or any car? That's what it really comes down to.
The other stuff? Doesn't really matter what people think. I may agree that getting an m3 as your first car may be a bit much, but hell, if I was offered it I would take it when I was 16. And giving an m3 to an otherwise good kid isn't going to turn them into a snobbish jaggoff that expects the world handed to them on a platter.
Let me just say that the biggest confidence booster in my life was being able to score dates while driving a twelve year old 1984 Subaru Wagon that you could hear from a mile away. Never had a problem with women since...
