Teen Plows Car Through School, Drives Down the Hall
While some schools are extremely strict on their tardy policies, forcing students to get to class on time no matter what, that is probably not what caused a seventeen year-old boy from Shoreline, Washington to crash his parents’ car through the doors of his high school and drive it down the hall. The car reportedly traveled about seventy-five yards before coming to a stop after hitting a security office. The police say drugs and alcohol were not involved, but the teen was taken for a mental evaluation. There has been no confirmation yet as to why or how the crash occurred.
Scenarios such as this one help to illustrate why individuals under twenty-five, particularly males, are considered “high-risk” by insurance companies and generally have to pay higher premiums. This high-risk status derives from many factors. First and foremost is the fact that drivers under the age of twenty-five will generally be less experienced behind the wheel than older drivers. Second, younger drivers are also generally more prone to risky or reckless driving, which can combine with inexperience to form a deadly combination. Third, younger drivers are thought by insurance companies to have a lesser degree of emotional maturity than do older drivers, which may cause them to let emotional or stressful situations impact the decisions they make behind the wheel of an automobile. This is also probably the reason that the teen in this situation is being taken for a mental evaluation, which can help determine whether or why he decided to crash the car into the school.
In situations like this one, it is extremely fortuitous when no injuries result. A vehicle crashing through the hallways of a high school would have the potential to injure or kill dozens or hundreds of kids depending on the time of day. Luckily no one was injured in this incident, including the driver, but it does provide a good example of why drivers in this age group may be considered “high-risk” by insurance companies.
