CRITIQUE ON 'TEENAGE DRIVERS? BE VERY AFRAID'

'Teenage Drivers? Be Very Afraid' is an article written regarding parents not being involved enough when it comes to teenage driving. It is written by Bruce Feiler, an American writer, television personality and author of 12 books, including six consecutive New York Times non-fiction best seller in a column of The New York Times recently (19th March 2016). The target audiences of this article is mainly parents of teenage drivers.

The author's intention is to inform to the readers on ways to reduce crash rates of teenage drivers. The author gave several rules that parents can impose on their teen driver. Some of the suggestions made by the author is to not let friends drive with them, turn off notifications on cellphones when driving, the two second rule and for parents to be a back-seat parent.

Looking at the arguments presented by the author, he had provide a multi-dimensional view to teenage driving. He wrote that cellphones are one of the main reasons that lead to accidents among teen drivers but that passengers are a greater threat than cellphones. Even so, it doesn't mean that old threats like drinking and driving at night have gone away.

I couldn't agree more with the author. Technology has helped us in many ways in our lives but it is also because of technology that the crash rate among teen drivers is increasing. Teenagers nowadays are always on their cellphones be it for texting, talking or checking facebook. Even when they are driving, once their phone beeps it's hard for them to resist checking it. As for driving with friends, when their friends are talking to them or telling them a story, these teen drivers will become distracted and will focus on their friends instead of the road. Besides that, their friends might even persuade them to drive above the speed limit.

The tone and choice of words used by the author indicates his professionalism in terms of language style. No notes of sarcasm are used throughout this article, and it has been delivered straightforward and honestly. Overall, looking at the points presented, this article is a great article on the ways to reduce the risk of crashes among teen drivers.