JOIN USKids behind the wheel
At the age of 18, you can drink, drive and vote. But why wait till then if you have a vehicle handy and a basic knowledge of how to work an accelerator?
This appears to be the logic with which several teenage students – a demographic never particularly known for its patience – are now stepping behind the wheel.
In fact, witnessing obviously under-aged children driving cars and motorbikes has become distressingly common. Metrolife speaks to a few people to find out what they think of this phenomenon.
Deepak, a 27-year-old 3D visualiser, says that he has often seen young school children driving vehicles on crowded roads.
“High school students sometimes commute to school like this, despite the fact that they don’t have a licence. In all probability, they start learning from their friends. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s important that they shouldn’t put it to practical use,” he complains.
Chetan, a businessman, agrees with this view. “Underage driving happens everywhere, not just in Bangalore. Kids see their friends driving cars and bikes, and so they think it’s alright for them to do it too. My response to this is quite negative; I would strongly advise parents not to allow their children to drive vehicles without a licence in this manner,” he says.
Children may pick up driving from their friends, but how do they get access to a vehicle?
This raises a pertinent question: do parents actually encourage the blatant disregard for the law? Praveen Sood, the Additional Commissioner of Police believes that often parents shoulder most of the blame with regards to underage driving.
“When it comes to underage driving, not only can the driver by penalised, but the parents are also liable for prosecution. In such cases the police always take action, but it’s more important for parents to realise that they are endangering the safety of their child,” he says.
He maintains that parents might sometimes feel a sense of pride that their young child is driving, but this is often shortlived. “Driving isn’t just about knowing how to use ABC– accelerator, brake and clutch – but also about understanding road signage and etiquette, which many children are not aware of,” he adds.
However, Deepak believes that there is not much parents do to stop their children who are hell-bent on doing something. “Parents forbid their child to drink and smoke, yet they go ahead and do it anyway. While parents can try and control their kids, they can’t entirely prevent such misbehaviour. At the most, they can refuse to give their child access to their own vehicle. It’s more important for the police to take drastic steps against this. I have often seen children in school uniform riding bikes – it’s obvious that the driver is underage, but the police still do nothing,” he says.