Bad drivers. Who is worse - teens or adults?

Yesterday, my sixteen year old got her license. Yes, it was a monumental occasion, another parking spot in the parking lot of life. Another feather in my cap that we are doing everything right and our kids are becoming adults, so why then as I waited in the lobby of the DMV, did it feel so bittersweet?

I should have been happy, right? Now she will be able to drive herself everywhere. I won't have to pick her up at her friends, take her to the mall, drive her back and forth to school, the library, the pool, the list goes on. Having another driver in the house, should take a lot off my plate, right? Wrong.

Now only begins another stage of worry. Because, now she will be alone. The States' are helping somewhat with their laws, but one law in particular is most annoying to me. Nowadays having an older child with a license doesn't help families like it used to. Because of the States' strict driving rules for teens (most of which I love and agree with) my daughter will not be able to transport her siblings for six! Six months?! How does that help me?

I understand how the law is trying to help, by requiring longer periods of time for young drivers to develop the skills necessary to become more experienced drivers and hopefully avoid some of the tragic situations that inexperience can result in, but with only two cars in our family, a third driver is no help at all.

I do like the "curfew" section of the law though. It says that until a drivers 18th birthday, he/she may not drive between the hours of 11 pm – 5am unless it is for, employment , school , religious activities or a medical necessity. So, she can go out with her friends and by LAW has to be home by 11pm. How sweet is that!?

They even have laws against texting! Obviously, this is hard to enforce, but get caught and there are consequences. I love this law too.

As my daughter was preparing to drive, I read countless articles on safety. Everyone was/is talking about our inexperienced teen drivers and I can't argue with that. But, let's be honest! It's not always about the teens. It wasn't the teens that were breaking the rules. Not one time did we go out driving were we did not see an adult break a rule. I found many of them to be aggressive and threatening. I can't tell you how many time an "adult" rode on our bumper, because we were going the speed limit.

Yes, teens are the novice drivers, but from what I can see, they are also the only ones following the driving rules. As parents, we have to set an example, s0, come on parents lets take a page from the new drivers rule book! Follow the speed limit, stop on the stop lines, stop at the red lights, yield at the yellow. Follow the 3 second rule when there is a car in front of you. You get the point.

My 16 year old daughter has retaught me more about the roads than any adult driver could. She has taught me to slow down and enjoy the ride. Congratulations, Victoria. Be safe.