Teen-agers caused about 21 percent of all Kentucky accidents in 1998, while accounting for about 6 percent of drivers, state statistics show. That still leaves 99,360 wrecks for the rest of us. After they turn 16, young people are supposed to practice with licensed drivers for six months before taking their road tests. The waiting period is mandatory because of a new state law, but some teens aren't taking advantage, Trooper Hartman says. He thinks long-time drivers, if they were tested again, might fare even worse.
Bad habits become ingrained.
We survive a few close calls and think we have some gift for driving, when really we just got lucky. No matter how tough its laws, the state cannot guarantee that people will be smart on the road. We're not saying you're never going to have an accident. After talking with her, I flashed back to my own lucky breaks. There was the time in Eastern Kentucky when I left a coal-mine explosion in a hurry, trying to make deadline, and ended up in a creek.