I like movies with special effects about as much as the next guy, but I wonder if these contribute to the problem. The hero on TV and in movies is always defying the laws of physics. It's the cool thing to do -- why shouldn't every 16-year-old give it a whirl?
I know it's not completely new, but if James Bond does it while wearing a tuxedo, or of Burt Reynolds does it why trading wisecracks with Dom DeLuise, I think people can see it as a fantasy. But some of the stuff I see on youtube (kids trying to jump over moving cars, for instance) makes me think that kids no longer see a line between fantasy physics and reality physics.
I don’t know about you but I had a lot of driving time out on country roads from the time I was around 8 yrs old.
My kids started out even earlier and had their own hunk of junk to drive around the farm when they were 7 and 9. When most kids were riding their bikes my sons were backing up trailers, driving tractors and doing all kinds of things with vehicles. The youngest is 36 and neither has ever had a car accident.
Around here the kids take a classroom course then they can apply for their learner’s permit and as soon as they are old enough, get their license, that is not enough experience behind the wheel, IMO. Then you add alcohol to that inexperience, it is a tragedy waiting to happen.
My brother was killed in a drunk driving accident when he was 17, my parents never recovered from that.