Teenagers and speeding

[shebear]

What would you do to your 17yr.old who was stopped by a fellow officer for racing. She was caught by one of our traffic guys going 101mph in a 55mph. zone. I was planning on selling her car, however; she has a job and this would cause her to lose that job. I'm going to allow her to drive only to and from work. I'm not sure how long I'm going to ground her for. What do you guys think?

[txinvestigator1]

So what if she loses her job. It is better than losing her life. You better nip this right in the bud, right now. I would remove her driving privileges NOW.

I would require her to ride with your traffic guys or at least respond to some bad crashes.

My daughter would be riding a stick horse until she was 18.

You CANNOT back down from this. It is too serious.

[Nitey]

So she doesn't have any spending cash to buy clothes and junk, so what? I agree completely with Tx on this one. If I'd done that, I'd have been riding the shame train (bus) in no time. For something this serious (101!!) a slap on this wrist is just like you're saying "please don't speed, please?"

[JayE]

Public Embarassment is a creative punishment.

*** Make her stand on a street corner with a tent sign over her shoulders that says " I got caught speeding 101 mph in a 55 mph zone "

*** Make her write a thank you letter to the officer that stoped her and saved her life and the lifes of others.

*** Make her write an apoligy letter address to the residents of the county she was caught in to be printed in the local newspaper.

I see your post, I noticed you said she was caught by " one of our traffic guys ", I am assuming since you made no mention to any punishment by the court system, your fellow officer gave her a big break and notified you, instead of issueing a citation. I only say this, bc here in Ohio, drag Racing is a 6 point citation, and if a minor receives 6 points before age 18, that person loses thier licence for one and a half years.

I say, also, take her car away till age 18, upon emancipation, as she earns your trust and becomes more responsible, gradualy give her driving privledgea back.

[shebear]

Tkx guys.

Jay E Smokey, you are right, the officer that pulled her over called me and advised that he was going to let me handle it. She already appologized to him and to me.

Like I said, my first thought was to sell her car, make her ride the cheese wagon (bus), to and from school for the next week and half. (then schools out for the summer). I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being to harsh.

The funny thing is she is normally a really good kid with a very level head. I don't know what has gotten into her lately.

Something else ironic is she wants to be a EMT. We have a friend with Fire and rescue who she is going to do a ride along with in the next few weeks. Maybe that will open her eyes. I sure hope so!!

[Darin]

After reading your last post Shebear I think you are handling it right by limiting her driving. She probably feels pretty bad about getting stopped and it probably scared her getting caught goingthat fast so she may have learned her lesson.

[zander_zye]

I liked JayE's response.

It would be nice to force drunk drivers have to wear a sign and walk up and down the street stating their crime and asking for an apology. Humility works...

[Esprit de Corps]

im a teenager, and a lot of my friends drive fast cars(i drive and 88 montero - barely breaks 55mph) . im sure you all know that speed can be addictive. i agree with tx you should nip this before something happens. i think it would be a good idea to sell it and get her something different and slow. i like the ride along idea too. their are many more different ways to punish her. but speaking as a teenager i think taking away driving privilages for summer, is really really harsh. imo cutting off her hands would be easier on her(lol;) ) thought id throw something out for the younger demograpghic. though it probably didnt i hope ive help a little.

[Barenaked]

. but speaking as a teenager i think taking away driving privilages for summer, is really really harsh

And I think that is exactly what you want your teen to think because it will actually mean something and they will remember it next time.

[Esprit de Corps]

uscg

you do bring up a good point

[JayE]

Originally posted by shebear
Jay E Smokey, you are right, the officer that pulled her over called me and advised that he was going to let me handle it. She already appologized to him and to me.

Your daughter should be very thankful to that officer. I know each officer has the ability to use "officer discreasion", but to call you and let you handle it. WOW ! But if the same situation would happen to my daughter, or me, when I was that age, I would really feel the need for a huge thank you letter. I mean drag racing is getting to be such a problem around here. Not more than 9 months ago, about late fall, two teenagers were drag racing. The one kid got stuck behing a car that was turning left, the driver had to slam on his breaks. He lost controll of the car, went off road and hit a 9 year old boy sitting on a bench with his family that was eating ice cream at an ice cream stand.

Teenagers today DO NOT NEED high performance cars. Pleanty of kids at my high school got Camero SS, Trans Am, Eclipses, one kid got a new corvette for his 16th birthday. They just do not have the driving experience to handle the responability that goes with having car like that. I could see getting a car like that for a graduation gift from COLLEGE, if the kid is fortunate enough to have parents that can afford to buy a car for thier child. But I think there should be laws govrning the titling and insurance coverage to kids under a certain age. Now, weather its a sports car of not, they can still speed, but I think it is more likley with a sports car.

And for petes sake, dont worry about being too harsh, I know and you know that whatever decision you make, will be the right one. So what if she doesnt have her car for while , some kids dont even have their own car. Whatever the punishment is...she will learn from it, and become a better driver and person for it.

[shebear]

Tkx again for all the input. Last night I gave her my decision. I am not going to sell her car. I am going to allow her to drive to and from work, only because she has to be at work before I get off work and she has no other way there. However, that is the only driving she is doing for the entire summer. I didn't want her to lose her job because she needs to learn the value of a dollar. We discussed all the possible things that could of happened and that have happened to others. Her car is a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire so she does not have a sports car. Heck, I didn't even think her car could wind it's rubber bands that fast (lol).

When I got home she already had a letter of appology written to me (shocked Me), so I told her she had one more to write to the officer that let her go. She did. I also explained that he could of taken her to jail for willfull wanton wreckless driving. She advised that he had explained that to her, but prior to that she wasn't aware of that.

The officer that pulled her over's wife and I are good friends. She is a police officer also and we went to the accademy together. I going to make my daughter call the officers wife and appologize to her for putting her husbands life in danger by having to drive that fast to catch up to her.

[Darin]

Shebear I think you are doing the right thing. It sounds like she has already learned her lesson and she sounds like a good daughter who had a lapse of good judgement.

[russelld84]

i'm 19 and i have no tolerance for people that speed. it drives me nuts. i guess the speed limit only applies to me cuz it seems i'm the only one around here that does it....

as for punishment, i'd restrict her driving... maybe tell her she's gotta be home by X time if she's driving.... and put the fear of god in her by making her ride along with the traffic folks and see what a sharp corner and 100 MPH will do to ya....

[Scruit]

There is a difference between 'speeders' who do 10 over the limit on the freeway (along with everyone else) and 'speeders' who do 100mph.

I talked ot my wife about this last night. I decided that if our kid ever got caught doing that, then I'd let the police process them as a normal person. No offense intended here, but I certainly wouldn't want the fact that a parent is a police officer make them think they can get away with things that 'normal people' wouldn't.

I would be very greatful to the officer who gave you the opportunity to deal with it yourself - but don't you think that's a conflict of interest? Why shoudl your daughter get treated any differently than the next kid he pulls over for 100mph? I don't think it's fair that because you are an officer that she gets preferential treatment.

That being said - it is done now. I applaud you for punishing her yourself - I think your chosen punishment is fair to her. Maybe a little too fair, but certainly not too harsh. If she complains for a moment then remind her of the penalties that other LEOs have observed for people *they* have pulled for over 100... $1500 fines, loss of license, future insurance nightmares and even jail time!!

Shebear - I'm not trying to get on your case about her being let off by the officer - it's just my opinon. The most important thing is she is still alive - it could very easily have been different. Stuff happens. Learn from it. Move on.

Friends still?