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Over the years, cars have leapt from a tool of convenience and productivity to a status symbol, achieving iconic status. Driving has gone from a privilege to a rite of passage. The legal driving age varies little from state to state, and generally hovers around 16. A few states don*t even require kids to have a learners permit before letting them out on the road. So basically, before we'll allow them to buy tobacco, alcohol or a firearm in most places, they*re turned loose with a large, heavy and more widely destructive weapon.

More American teens die from car wrecks each year than from any other cause. The statistics are appalling. According to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, a 2005 survey conducted by the Allstate Foundation reported that out of 1,000 drivers between the ages of 15 and 17, more than 50 percent said they routinely use their cell phone while behind the wheel. Forty-seven percent said they find passengers to be distracting. In fact, statistics show that vehicle-related death rates among drivers in this demographic increase with each passenger.

Kids aren*t the only ones being irresponsible on the roads. Many busy adults also use their daily commutes to multitask, taking care of missed morning chores like shaving or even applying makeup. That's only a good use of your time if you are aspiring to be the prettiest girl at the multi-vehicle pileup. Everybody has cell phones these days, and it is not at all unusual for people to use their drive time to chat with a friend or return important business calls. Next time you stop at a traffic light, take a brief second to glace at the drivers in either side of you. Chances are very good that at least on of them is talking on a cell phone.

Odds are also good, that at that very same light, some parent is turned around tending to children in the back seat. Anyone who has any kind of experience with kids at all knows that it's unrealistic to expect them to sit quietly all the time, and they don*t have the maturity to comprehend the dangers of distracted drivers. The best solution is to make sure children are properly strapped into car seats, or booster seats, appropriate to their size before the vehicle starts moving. If and adjustment needs to be made, or some other situation needs to be seen to, then pull over.

Food is another common distraction for most drivers. Think about it; if you*ve got one hand on your Big Mac and the other one on your extra large soda, neither one is firmly on the steering wheel. What would happen if you suddenly had to depend on your French fry-greased hands to make a sharp turn to avoid hitting a small child or a semi truck? The seconds wasted as the wheel slides around clumsily in your hands could save someone's life. You can visit http://www.driving-safety-guide.com to learn more about driving safely.

A lot of risky behavior can be avoided by making a point to ask yourself if it's worth someone getting hurt or even killed. For example, *Is the few minutes I'll save by applying my lipstick while driving worth the possibility of a collision?* It sounds like a no-brainer, but it's a choice so may people make several times a day.