How can reckless teenage driving be prevented?

[UncleColm]

We had that terrible crash recently in the UK which resulted in 7 deaths - RIP to the two Police Officers who were on duty.

In Ireland we had a very similar crash the previous week where five boys died - aged 15 to 17. All were wearing balaclavas at the time of the crash and were 'well known' to Guards. The family they crashed into were three sisters and a seven year old son of one of the sisters (on the way to the airport go to a family wedding) - they are all still in hospital and are very seriously injured.

The previous week, in Ireland, a car carrying eight teenage boys aged from as young as 13 crashed into a car being driven in the correct direction by one young man who is now seriously injured.

The boys seem to be from a mix of poor areas and Travellers. In death they are being celebrated by their families but where were these families when they were alive? Who lets their teenage boy out all night? And let's them produce tiktoks of their 'exploits'? Parental supervision is clearly not in place.

How can this reckless driving behaviour be stopped?

In Ireland there is a huge shortage of jail spaces and places to detain a child under 18. These kids couldn't care less if the Guards catch them - sure what's another Juvenile Caution to them? One of the boys who died was supposed to stay in his own County but had ignored it. They have no fear of the Guards or the law.

I work in a school and there is a huge amount of help available to Traveller children in particular but they still tend to not engage with any after school activities, don't do homework, don't go on school trips, leave school early, high absence rate, etc.

I read recently that, in Ireland, 50% of Travellers don't live beyond 39. In 2026 this a shocking statistic. I don't know what the statistics are for the poor, disadvantaged areas but I do know that the taxpayers provide Social Housing, child benefit, medical cards, free education, free school books and hot lunches, back to school allowances and a whole other host of allowances. There are many initiatives available to help people to stay in education and gain independence.

What more can be done? Is there any way of reaching these young males?

TBH I doubt that the sort of reckless boys/young men, who think it’s fun to drive cars (their own or stolen) the wrong way down motorways at 100 mph, will take a blind bit of notice of any rules at all. I dare say a lot of the ‘fun’ is doing anything that’s illegal or otherwise disapproved of.

Research driven ‘new rules’ is just development. Some states in the US have rules about new drivers not having passengers until a certain age. This is based on sound research about how the brain develops during adolescence into adulthood- risk taking and the impact of the presence of peers. I think if it’s had an impact on accidents then that’s a sensible approach and not at all knee jerk.

In practice it doesn’t though. Sentences can be short or even suspended. Lifetime bans are rare.

There was a really awful & unbearably heartbreaking case on the A1(M) where a young baby and his aunt were killed. No lifetime ban. The bereaved mother set up a petition for lifetime bans as a result.

Well that depends on whether the courts throw the book at them? But sadly with the prisons being full that’s unlikely!

Do you think this was an accident because they didn't realise they were on the wrong side of the road due to lack of experience?

Well they’re not going to throw the book at them before they steal the car are they?

But no law can limit the power of the cars there scrotes choose to steal or how many pasengers they carry, car thieves will not be alone, where's the kudos in that?

So a responsible teenage mum. You’re unusual.

Until what age are the parents meant to be taking responsibility for what their offspring do?

Oslo & Helsinki have achieved zero pedestrian & cyclist deaths. Driver deaths are exceedingly low too.

Well actually the parents might like that.No longer have the responsibility of caring for wayward teens

Bring them up properly that's how

Also get rid of ThickTok. I've never heard anything nice about it.

Does it ever promote helping your neighbours out or helping a charity. No didn't think so.
How it's allowed to promote arsehole things. I don't know?
We have lost it haven't we?

Being able to show parents what their child has done - all permissions are in place etc. - has saved hours of parent meetings where the parent repeatedly insists that their child would not do what multiple witnesses have seen them do.

Years ago in the school where I taught a teacher in school late for a production spotted two boys climbing into a restriced area and managed to take photos of them. On being shown the evidence the breeders called the teacher a pervert for taking photos of a child without their knowledge and actually went to the police station to report him! They got short shrift and we got chapter and verse about it because a colleague was very close to one of the police officers.

I noted the statistics to combat the assertion that things are getting worse. They are not, they are getting better.

The number has reduced from over 25,000 young men being killed or seriously injured to around 5,000. I see a reduction of 20,000 over lives being impacted as quite a success and is a testament to the work that has been put in by campaigning groups and governments to make that difference. The trend is still downward, numbers will likely continue to fall. It will never be zero, but we have to balance the needs of young people with their safety. We could bring the number to zero tomorrow by stopping anyone under the age of 25 from having a licence, that’s unrealistic. But we have to be careful with restrictions that are based on urban teenagers. Calling for a curfew might seem fine if you live in a city with great access to public transport, but that same ban stops rural youth from getting anywhere. I worked in a restaurant 15 miles away living in rural Scotland. If I couldn’t drive after 11pm, I couldn’t work. All of these things have been considered and whilst I think there is still more we can do, we are getting to the point where the balance between safety and ensuring young people have transport is harder to strike.

Ironically, the current shit show with driving tests means the current cohort of learner drivers will be the safest we’ve seen as they are having to learn for much longer than we ever did because they can’t get a test. One might think a mandatory number of learner hours would be a good thing, but again, this leaves many rural drivers at a disadvantage. Instructors are harder to find and often rural drivers come with more experience behind the wheel as there is far more opportunity for them legally to drive a vehicle on private land. I’d been driving with my dad from the age of 12. By the time I got to 17, I was already proficient in handling a car.

I’m sorry your experience of young people is scary. The ones I teach and work with are brilliant. Of course they have the confidence and hubris of youth, they think they know everything and will tell you that as often as they can. They aren’t afraid to try and fail, they are wet behind the ears yet full of optimism, knowing how they want their future to be. Is that any different to how you were when you were young? Older people back then thought we were scary too, but look at us now, running the world and denigrating young people all by ourselves! Try looking at them through the lens of the younger you, you’ll see the spark.

If you bring them up properly they won't go down that road at all. Pardon the Pun. 😭

What was a 16 year old doing out at that time of the night?

Total lack of parental care or control.

They should be publicly shamed on the TV and made to apologise for their sons behaviour. It won't bring anyone back but it will show we are holding people accountable and naming them.

It's to easy at the moment to have a child and not to take on the responsibility of raising them. Teaching them manners and respect etc. Finding good roles models.

Until It happens there is no chance.parents are fading quietly into the background and could even go in to have more children. So it goes on.these teens were a great advert as to why so people don't want children. It's not the be all and end all in life.

In China, the algorithms for their version of TikTok only serve up information to young people about doing community good. I’d love it if Meta et al did a similar thing on their platforms. Unfortunately we are part of the problem as we prefer to see drama so that’s what it feeds us.

This,

Wow you are so informed on global road safety, I really appreciate that. So what do you make of the recent accidents then? Maybe we are overreacting a bit

I agree with the Education route, but we are clearly also failing that.

Black boxes for everyone under 21/23.

Linked to insurance/police control centre?

The problem is these were feral kids whose families dgaf about the law, insurance etc. All were in stolen cars?

Dunno what you do about that.

This.
100%.
STOP giving benefits to people who produce child after child and never ever work and never parent their kids.
MUCH tougher measures for low level crime -including loosing your social housing. Take the kids into care and let the adults fend for themselves.
Time for some serious FAFO.

It shouldn't be allowed to feed awful things, that's the point.
Country's so bloody weak.

I saw a headline this morning social media companies are being urged to take down videos
Urged it shouldn't be allowed in the first place. Unfortunately owners only care about money

Social media or unsocial media has been an awful thing for society and it's got too big . Far too big and unregulated.

I don’t really make Anything of it tbh. You don’t make policy or law based on isolated incidents

How old are your teenagers? Do they have friends you spend time with? None of their parents seem absent, in fact they are way more present than mine ever were.

Gen X were raised by MTV and the key under the mat. Kicked out at 9am, parents out working, they’d be home at some point. I could easily slip out of by bedroom window for an hour or two at night and they would be none the wiser.

We seem to have a set of schrodinger’s parents now, both too involved, helicoptering, overbearing and also letting their children run feral, never knowing where they are at the same time.

If they threw the book at them it might put others off in the future!!

Agreed. That way, madness lies.