Teenage Driver Danger

My oldest daughter is currently learning how to drive. She was very excited about getting that learner's permit and hitting the road; that was three months ago. Yesterday, she told me that she doesn't want to drive; that yesterday was the last day she was going to do it--it's too scarey and you have to pay attention to yourself along with everyone and everything around you! Part of me wanted to say, "great!" but I know that driving is something that she is going to have to learn. Teenage drivers scare me to death. My nephew, who is fifteen months older than my daughter, got his license this summer. I worry about him. There are so many distractions and dangers that I can hardly bear the thought of my nephews and nieces and my own children driving. In one instant, a wrong, inexperienced teen aged decision could end their lives. I just have such a fear of that; it almost makes me sick. My daughter told me that she tries to remember the stories she has heard about kids getting killed because of mistakes so that she doesn't make them. My nephew told me that his friend text messages friends while he is driving and steers with his knees; and he thought it was funny. Those kinds of things scare the living sh*t out of me. It hadn't dawned on me, until now, what a big deal having a kid operating a two thousand pound hunk of metal is--extremely dangerous and foolhardy--really. But, it is also a necessary evil. There is no way around it. The way communities are set up, there really aren't many places one can walk or bike to. Public transportation is only in larger cities--no such thing exists in the suburbs or out in the middle of nowhere where we are living now. I have a little time to steel myself for the day when my daughter will actually be able to drive alone. When that day comes, I am sure I will be praying a whole lot more than I do now!