There is only supposed to be one other teen under 18 inside the car of an under aged driver (O'Donoghue), and this helps keep teen drivers safer, as well, as too many people in the car can be a distraction to the driver. Parents should ensure that these rules are followed, and the curfew causes parents to be more aware of where their children are and when they return home at night. It should open up new avenues of communication, which is good for teens and parents.
The arguments against the teen curfew laws are many. As reporter Mussenden notes, they are difficult to enforce. He writes of a driver education teacher, "But, based on conversations with students, she suspects that few teens obey all the rules, especially curfew restrictions. Police say enforcing some restrictions are a challenge, since telling a 16-year-old from a 19-year-old at 55 miles per hour is difficult" (Mussenden). In addition, police cannot pull a young driver over simply because they look too young, there must be a "primary offense" such as a running a red light, before they can pull a driver over, which makes it more difficult to enforce the law (O'Donoghue). That means that essentially, although there is a law on the books, it is not being enforced as it could be, and that means it is not strong or relevant to teen drivers, who find it easy to disobey it. In addition, many accident studies have shown that many teen accidents occur during daytime hours, which the curfew law can do nothing to prevent. One tragic accident on a rural two-lane road in Virginia took the lives of four teens sixteen and under, and it happened in broad daylight (Crash Investigation Team 4). The curfew would not have helped in this situation, and it does not help in many others. However, the curfew helps save lives, and that is the most important...
Some people find them too strict, but if they save lives, they are worth it. They also get parents more involved in what their teens are doing. In the tragic crash that killed four teens, there were four teens in the car, which was against the law, and the 16-year-old driver had been involved in a crash before, yet his parents let him go with three other teens, and did not monitor the situation that ultimately took the lives of four teens (Crash Investigation Team 10). Parents have to be involved in the driving habits of their children, and they have to help the police monitor behavior. The police need more primary offense categories to be able to pull teens over and enforce the law, as well.
References
Crash Investigation Team. "Report Number 196). Virginia Commonwealth University. 2006. 12 Dec. 2007. http://www.vcu.edu/cppweb/tstc/pdfs/196.pdf
Editors. "Virginia Licensing Laws." Safeteendriving.org. 2007. 12 Dec. 2007. http://www.safeteendriving.org/laws/laws.php
Editors. "Virginia Steps Up Efforts to Curb Drunk Driving with Checkpoints." InsuranceJournal.Com. 2006. 12 Dec. 2007. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2006/08/25/71734.htm
Mussenden, Sean. "Tough Driving Laws for Teens Saving Lives." Potomac News Online. 2006. 12 Dec. 2007. http://www.potomacnews.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WPN%2FMGArticle%2FWPN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137836300442&path=!news
O'Donoghue, Julia. "Driving Home Safety." Connection Newspapers. 2007. 12 Dec. 2007. http://www.*****/article.asp?article=91198&paper=62&cat=109
