When it comes to the timing of major milestones in a young person’s life, I’ll concede to being something of a shameless hypocrite.
In defence of my otherwise good character, having a teenage daughter as part of the Shaw brood makes it incredibly difficult not to be.
I am, for example, only happy to endorse the increasing clamour from Australian academics for the voting age to be lowered from 18 to 16.
While not yet entirely worldly-wise, my – no-longer a baby – girl has clear views on major issues such as climate change, the cost of living and conflict in Ukraine and should have a say in the appointment of those charged with making decisions that will impact on her short-, mid- and long-term future.
On the flip side, I’m only too content to keep the ability for her to buy cigarettes and alcohol safely out of her immediate reach.
And at the risk of upsetting the apple of my own eye, the protective parent in me also wishes the same was true for driving and that the brakes could be applied to this particular rite of passage.
Why is Western Australia in such a race to allow its young citizens behind the wheel of a car? Should those seemingly incapable of picking up wet towels from bathroom floors or making their own beds each morning really be entrusted with the keys to a potential killing machine?
I joke – a little – for effect and am conscious that being tidier around the home, older, and hopefully wiser, does not make someone an infallible driver, but genuinely can’t see what harm can possibly come from making people wait a little longer than 17 to take to the roads unescorted.
Unfortunately, this winter has already demonstrated the potential consequences of the status quo.
In the space of a month, there have been three fatal crashes involving teenage drivers on West Australian roads. The youngest victim – a 15-year-old – died when she was a passenger in a car driven by a 17-year-old who was involved in a head-on collision.
And, as ever, the news headlines do not convey the complete picture. In my role as commercial director at Accident Claims Lawyers I have been exposed to far more cases than I would wish that involve young drivers having their futures diverted along a distinctly different road than planned by life-changing injuries.
I hasten to add that I understand the drive to drive as soon as legally possible. While my children may find it difficult to believe, I was once 17 and – then living in Liverpool, England – viewed getting rid of L-plates as the ultimate ticket to independence. I get that the ability to stick a vehicle in gear gets you from A to B without the need to carshare with a parent and that Australia’s dispersed living places an even greater value on that, I’d just prefer it if investment in public transport infrastructure provided teens with a tempting alternative to automobiles.
I also realise that my championing of a deferral to driving will not necessarily be music to the ears of those mum and dad “cabs” otherwise close to calling time on their chauffeuring days. To them, however, I would proffer that if you’re going to be lying awake at night waiting for the safe return of the new driver in your home, you may as well be whiling away the unsociable hours on a cinema run.
Simon Shaw, Commercial Director