I was hoping to discuss the show with people who actually WATCHED the show. Not have a debate between the "kids" and "old farts"

Nobody has said ALL teens are bad drivers! MOST are, not because of knowing but because of doing. We all know how to drive responsibly but teens choose not to, MORE often. Just like MOST of us know how to be fit and stay in shape but we still eat double cheeseburgers and sit our butts. You really need to pull the stereotype chips off your shoulders and see if the shoe fits....If it doesn't, it doesn't...It doesn't apply to you, there is no point in trying to defend those who the shoe does fit, which is what you do by pitching a fit anytime makes a generalization. You will be put into boxes and grouped your whole life, its not always a bad thing. You will either have the oppertunity to shine like star amongst your peers all through life if you can live beyond the sterotypes.....But please remember a sterotype exists because MOST people fit the certain sterotype. OK....So egnough on stereotypes

No it was just called "Teens behind the wheel" --Director Jennifer Boyd's documentary examines teen driving habits as 10 Hartford-area drivers are recorded during a six-month period.


The documentary also focused on the graduated drivers licences like in NC as remedy for teen drivers.

If you haven't seen it you can try to find it here
http://www.pbs.org/

If you HAVE seen it post what you thought of it

 

Teens Behind the Wheel

Teens Behind the Wheel is a 2005 CPTV Original documentary that premiered on CPTV in May 2005 and will be released to PBS stations later in the year. Teens Behind the Wheel takes an unprecedented look at what really happens when teenagers drive and why the teen driving environment is often so dangerous. Ten high school students from the Greater Hartford area – including Naomi Marcus and Dan Romanos, both 17 – agreed to have video cameras mounted to the windshield of their cars for six months. The 4-inch by 6-inch cameras, which have one lens pointed at the road and another at the driver, record 20 seconds of footage every time there is a sudden change in the vehicle’s movement.
The cameras were installed by a California-based company called Drivecam. Jennifer Boyd, an independent producer, director and writer, was contracted by CPTV to oversee the project. Each week, she downloaded and compiled the footage for the new program.
When the West Hartford-based producer first reviewed the footage, she was shocked by what she saw. "Oh my gosh, I am never going out on a Friday and Saturday night again!" Boyd continued, "Stop signs are optional; driving on the other side of the road; stoplights…optional."
Since the taping began for the 10 participants, the cameras have documented seven crashes, two of them quite serious, although no one been hurt. However, the cameras are not intended to catch kids behaving badly, but to give viewers an accurate idea what happens in and around a teenager’s car during the first six months of driving.
Boyd observed a dramatic contrast between the driving habits of boys vs. girls in the study, with the girls exhibiting much safer behavior on the road than the boys.

 

and let's just say it leaves a lot to be desired. To search for the program by schedule, you have to put in your zip code, select which of the available stations you're interested in, and it limits to the next two weeks. If you do a search on the show title, you don't get the listing. The discription I posted above was found on a google search... Looks both interesting and scary. But I won't be able to see it in my area, at least over the next two weeks.... Who knows other than that.

Matt

 

Thats too bad.....It is definitely worth the time to watch, Especially since they talk about the success of graduated licences and how tough North Carolina is

 

they can look to the local stations web pages. They seem to be a bit more supportive.

Matt

 

I guess I am one of the few who saw it--several (3-4) weeks ago. It was excellent. I wasn't surprised by the driving behavior exhibited by some of the young teens as much as the lack of response from some of the parents who viewed the videos of their precious offspring driving like maniacs.Sad. A must see documentary.

 

Yeah, Exactly!.....The kid who had the MCS was probably the most reckless and scary given that he had a hot car, since most others had sedans or suv's and his dad just pretended like his son was in full control.

Teens are supposed to lack judgement but the parents are supposed to have it.

 

I believe that the premiss for the whole show is skewed towards making scapegoats out of teenagers. In fact, chronological age has much less to do with "driving problems" than does inexperience in driving. I lived for more than a decade in the third world, and believe me a 30 year old driver who has only been driving for six months is just as much a danger as a 16 year old with similar experience. What should really be the point of a mockumentary such as this is that we as a society need increased driver's training with periodic re-testing throughout the life of each driver. Base it on age, miles driven, locale, etc. but a comprehensive program is sorely needed. As proof of experience, let me point to snowfall in your average southern city - Atlanta or Dallas. Because drivers there are inexperienced in dealing with snow, there will be many more accidents among all age groups, than for example teenaged drivers from Vermont in a similar snowfall situation.

 

You can look at all the contributors, and while recklessnes is one, lack of experience is another, and there are many more. But these all correlate with age. One could in fact make a case that age is a causal factor in lack of experience. But whatever the root cause, the age class contributes to the accident rate at twice the rate proportional to membership in the driving class. Teenages, as a class, make themselves scapegoats by having an accident rate that is high. They, as a class, could chose to restrain their youthfull exhuberince, but don't. And the program was not presented as a comprehensive view into all sources of contributors to the youth accident rate. You're the one that is claiming the program is something other than what was presented.

Also, while your point about snow in Dallas is interesting, there isn't enough data presented to know if it is on point, or just reinforces the claims of the increased accident rate of young drivers. For that, you'd have to know the differential rate of accidents per age class during the abnormal weather. Maybe young drivers contribute more than the 7% of the increase.

Matt

ps, I'm not pissing on young people, but the numbers are the numbers.

 

While I agree that driving experience has alot to do with getting involved in an accident there is also another huge factor at play. Teenagers take more risks than older people do because they do not have the life experince yet. I know when I was 16 I did some really stupid stunts that I would now, at 40, never dream of doing. I look back on some of the things I did when I was 16 & I think "Man what was I thinking?" & "I'm lucky to still be alive!".

For example; when I was 16 I decided to drive my mothers Vette at 120MPH down a 2 lane country road just to see if it would do it. Guess what? It did & man am I lucky to still be alive

 

I think the real test of whether it is the age or the expereince would be to look at Europen figures. Europen countries tend to have much better drivers training. In the US of A it tends to be either a private company with less than enthusiastic teachers or gym teachers who really want to be refereing a dodgeball game instead of teaching someone to drive. Our whole country needs to stop acting like every little thing is an entitlement we are going down the tubes because we no lo0nger feel like we should have to work for anything. Driving should be a huge privilage to anybody under 25, but in this country any 16 year old can get a liscense with very minimal actual training on the equipment.

I am thankful that my dad taught me how to handle an automobile in all kinds of weather and conditions. I am also glad my dad taught me to love cars growing up he had a 280z and a vette.

 

The nubers are harder to come by in Europe. The US has very comprehensive databases of accidents. What I did find with a little looking was that alcohal plays a larger role in European accidents for youth, as the drinking ages are lower. But some other items make the 20-24 age class the worst. First, most countries don't let people drive untill 18, and there is much better public transportation, so younger people don't have as high access to cars. But the numbers are so vauge that it's no possible to get any good conclusions, and the US and European laws are so different, you can't really make an apples to apples comparison for teen driving.

Matt

 

look teens...no matter what you say....no matter how good of a driver you are....you are just gonna get the wrong end of the stick....there are no 2 ways about it...the really young drivers...and the really old(im not talking about 50-60yr olds but much older than that)...the only thing you kids can do is this...stay outta trouble....when i got my first car at 19(1995 Honda civic...still have it) i was paying a butt load of money to geico every month...now at 23 yrs old with a mini and the civic i pay only 95 bucks a month....the only way to combat the teen driving stigmata is one driver at a time...so you can complain till ur blue in the face but it wont change...im in san diego now and i dont know how many teeny boppers have nearly killed me...hell i was almost run down in a cross walk by a car load of hs girls....the reason i know this is because there was a cop doing a traffic stop....the girl was 17yrs old...and she tried her damndest to get off but it was a female cop lol...so the best thing to do is just fly under the radar...because in the end you all are stuck until your 25....its just something you have to deal with

 

No the show was not about making them the scapegoats. It was about documenting the poor DESCISION MAKING that teens have. (We have all been there, and remember the poor decisions in and OUT of autos!) The program emphasised the response and responsibility of parents and the law make in keeping everyone else safe! There was no ax to grind there or here, its just a honest look at the real dangers of the combination of inexperience AND recklessness. older inexperinced drivers may be hazard.

But passing in a no passing zone at night and in the rain and running over curbs because of speeding and cornering in the rain is just plain stupid and reckless! and this is exactly what our MCS driver did in the video. His dad saw no problem with this.

 

When I was 16 I could whizz(****) across a residential street. Now at 62, I can wiz (****) on a rock (near my foot) and not even have it splash. Long live teenagers--and I hope they do: because they will be paying my Social Security.

 

You just need very narrow streets!

Matt