[s-cars] Teens - btdt or not

[qshipq at aol.com]

Funny to read much of this...  It's a wonder that any of us with teens ever lived long enough to raise them ourselves.  No ABS, no airbags, heck back seat seat-belts were still an option when I was a toddler.  Interesting too, in this world of texting, distraction and lack of the old "SIPDE method" (survey, identify, predict, decide and execute), I lived half my life in Detroit, the other half in Chicago.  Well into my second million miles of driving (knock on wood): no accidents, trespass or trespassed.  I give thanks to most of that stat to my dad, who trained me ala DJD.  He was also Senior Safety Research Engineer at GM for 10 years in the 70's.  Some of his old crash tests and metallurgy SAE papers are still referenced.  He did crash site investigations, and taught his sons well, the definition of risk in context of automobiles.

In the end, mass simply wins the majority of the time in vehicle-vehicle crashes.  Head-on with the same vehicle or directly into a barrier takes out variables, but it's not real life.  Taka, it might interest you to know that GM SUV lines in the 70's would leave the cabin intact at great force, at the expense of that great force killing the passengers from just the negative g's.  

I was taught to avoid head-on crashes at all costs, period.  And have done so twice over the years - best thing I was ever taught.  I've been involved in motorsports for over 30 years, and find the experiences in a variety of them, invaluable.  I also believe properly skillset-taught teens with a good set of tires, will have a better chance of surviving early motoring experiences, than any choice of vehicle.  In my 15years as a HPDE instructor, I take to a clean slate teen in a Clinic, almost every time over a bad habit adult.  DJD quote applied to *any* driver:  I'd take an old-tech car with a good driver over a nu-tech car with a crappy driver.  

Got a teen, put them through a Teen Driving Clinic, period.  That action alone will equalize much of the car choice BS.  At the end of the day, driving is risk, I just don't buy into the argument that the best car choice is the one with the best crash rating.  Just like 'taking away texting', the reality of life with a teen is much more involved, dramatic, compromised, and dictated by a lot of factors besides a vehicle crash test.  I feel safe with either of my teens at the wheel, and feel they have learned how important that is to their dad.  *I* don't feel any safer with them at the wheel of my Landcruiser than a CGT.  Why?  Because mass itself dictates another set of variables to the less experienced driver.  

Rule 1:  If *you* don't feel your teen is safe behind the wheel, a safer car won't change that feeling.  Welcome to parenting a teen.

Cheers

Scott J