Youth, death and driving

Editor: Youth, Death and Driving. These are three topics we as the youth of St. Vincent and the Grenadines have been linking together for the past 9 months. Between April 2005 and January 2006, this country has seen an increasingly frightening number of road fatalities. And, sadly, over 90% of these fatalities involved the nation’s youth. It has been a very sad period for many prompting us to wonder, what is going on? {{more}}Why is this happening? Is it because they are young and inexperienced? Is it their need for speed? Is it just plain carelessness? Or are these all just really freaky accidents? Is this some kind of sign? We have friends now afraid to go to get their licenses! We’ll never know why we’ve lost our friends but now, more than ever the questions need to be asked, while we pray that no such accidents happen again.

Each of these deaths has caused the members of the #21 Ranger unit and many other persons in society to think seriously about today’s youth and their knowledge of road safety and their use of discretion.

Of the aforementioned fatalities, four of them were as a result of motorcar accidents while the other two were as a result of motorcycle accidents. None of the young men in these motor vehicles was wearing helmet or seatbelt. And some contend that this seems to support the view that young drivers have a total disregard for safety and a careless sense of invincibility.

However, we cannot support that view held by the some older persons in society. Many of us do have a clear idea of safety when driving and we do know that life is not based on how fast we go, or how high the numbers on the speedometer are. In truth, speeding is not limited to the youth. Our parents speed, and because they don’t get into accidents nothing is said about them.

We as a Ranger Unit feel strongly about the seatbelt and helmet laws that are being considered. We feel that while the enforcement of these safety measures comes too late, the general population needs to take heed. Not just the youth. Many young Vincentians have lost many friends over these past months in motor vehicular accidents… We should encourage other “driver” friends to take precautions when operating motor vehicles. And a word to the quick to judge adults: it’s your turn to lead by example instead of simply laying blame.

Youth, Death and Driving- One youth perspective

(From the desk of the No. 21 Ranger Unit)