<VV> Teens and 1st cars

[Tamias Metis]

Garth Stapon's article was great.  My two cents is that I would never buy a kid a brand new car.   My take is kids, especially boys will be extremely destructive to mechanicals of any car,  girls  although maybe less knowledgeable about vehicles are far less destructive to a vehicle.   Girls  don't generally do the ridiculously stupid things boys do to help destroy cars.    A good  low horsepower , economical  safe car  that is reliable  will do the job.  A  car that a daughter drives  must be the most reliable  so this is a case where it has to be better than what could be suitable for a son,  who should at least have a basic knowledge of how the mechanical systems of a vehicle operate.   My take is that the parents' should retain the title and make it known  that is the case so if  junior gets a swelled head , does something stupid, grades slip, gets a tatoo, starts drinking/smokin dope, joins a gang  etc, that daddy (& mommy)  take the  T-bird  or Yaris  away.   Then let
 them do the These Boots were Made for Walkin   as  Nancy sang it.     I grew up in a large family  where  several of us were driving age at the same time.   My folks told  my brother, sister and I that  if one of us  gets stupid and messes up  then  the  vehicle useage for the others get limited as well.   My parents often told my friends & I that  we were lucky to have  useage of  one of their vehicles, and if we didn't like it   we  were  welcome to buy our own car with our own money and all the associated costs,  insurance, repairs, registration  etc    if   we had a problem sharing  the parents'  third car.    This car was always the nicer of either of my parents' cars  that would have been traded in  when  they got another.  It was always something a teen considered uncool,  only something a 'square' responsible adult  would choose to drive,  sedans and wagons,  mostly wagons  Chevy, Ford, Mercury.    Though as a kid, I made decent money pumping gas in high school,  I
 realized how good I had it and didn't buy my first car until my junior year in college.  Where I went  they didn't allow freshmen to have cars on campus  and it was  a hassle  for the upper classmen that had cars cause suddenly you'd have  'instant friends' wanting to go on a beer run  at 3:45AM or whatever   and unlike some of the Einsteins that were in my dorm,   I  realized I wasn't brilliant , took it seriously and studied my  rear end off  and  made the deans list  most of the time and got my sheepskin with the honor cord in four.  Once even made the deans list for non academic,  crazy stupidity that earned at meeting with him and other campus officials.   But by that time,  though still prone to stupidity , like 2:30 AM  loud electric jam session with other drunken students  on the upstairs  outdoor balcony patio of the frathouse nearest the deans residence,  I guess he didn't like hearing Season of the Witch and Purple Haze being covered by amateurs at that hour,  -
 still  myself and probably most  people back then  were much less stupid when it  to came driving  by age 19 than we had been  as  16 to 18 year olds.   Still boys will be boys.   During high school , there was never any stupid driving while out on a date   but if there was just a crowd of idiots ,  it seemed that logic and sense dropped to the lowest common denominator of the stupidest idiot around.    Sadly back then it was all too common for car accidents to kill classmates,  usually it was losing control while speeding  (traveling at high speed)  while doing ordinary things like coming home from work or a friend's house, or travelling to school in the morning.    I don't remember any fatalities from  the stupid street drag races that were common.  A coulple guys got their vehicles impounded and confiscated by the police and had to appear in court where they got stiff fines too.   There was alot of drinking and driving  and  sadly many who  were killed  in senseless
 accidents.     I  can tell you the first funeral that you attend   as  a 15 or 16 year old of one of your  classmates'  stupid automobile crash really brings it home that you are not indestructible as you thought.   Its  too high  a price of education but  sadly its the first thing that brings reality to teenaged boys.   All I can say is be a good role model as a driver for your kids,  they are perceptive and  from age 8 on  and can exactly describe and mimic the way in which you drive,  if  you are a leadfoot,  cellphone glued to head,  angry road rage , type  and no matter how much you tell them not to,  they will follow your lead.   Drive safely ,  remember that being a little late for that appointment   isn't that important.   Turn off the phone,  your office and/or clients will leave a message, -- unplug it ,  concentrate on driving   safely.      Ain't it funny  how  pleasureable driving can be when you aren't trying to multitask ,   it is even  more  fun  piloting
 your Corvair on a stress free ride to your destination.    A  good drive today and a better one tomorrow.               Tamias  Metis


       
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