The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and if Ridge Meadows RCMP data is significant, there are a lot of bad apples on the road.
In a recent ticketing blitz by police near local high schools, they handed out 18 violation tickets in 45 minutes to young drivers who figured they’re too cool to put an N on the back of the car.
Often the cars are mommy’s or daddy’s, so when they’re driving to school, there’s a good chance parents know that junior is flouting the law by not putting the L or N on the back of the car.
B.C.’s graduated licencing program is still new and it might take a while to get used to it, but it’s a great step towards to reducing the carnage of young drivers on the road.
By making new drivers realize that driving is a privilege, to be earned in stages, the message is delivered that it’s a serious occupation, deserves complete attention and that a driver’s licence must be earned.
What kind of message are parents sending by allowing their kids to drive without an L or N?
That their children are ‘special’?
The slack attitude towards cellphone use while driving is also something mommy and daddy must improve.
Local RCMP say that teenage girls are the worst offenders for talking on handheld cellphones while trying to navigate the streets.
That’s a near lethal combination – inexperience and distraction.
The law recognizes that and says N drivers get three demerit points.
But if parents were doing their job, it wouldn’t get to the point.
Those folks have to set an example and ensure the new drivers in the family follow the law, because we all have to share the roads with them.
– The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News