Pune Car Crash: A Psycho-developmental Interpretation

The Pune car crash incident is all over the internet. On May 19, A seventeen-year-old teenager was driving over 200 mph while drunk, causing the death of two engineers in the crash. Both of them were engineers driving on a motorbike who died on the spot. The perpetrator was intoxicated after returning from a pub to celebrate his exam results. However, recent reports say that he was in his senses. The Reason the news came to such limelight was also because of what happened afterwards, the boy was asked to write an essay and was out on bail in the next 15 hours.

This Article is not meant to Justify the act of the teenager. The investigation has been going on still.

In this article, we are going to explore why some people, especially teenagers are attracted to speed driving and how one can avoid that.

Influence from media:

Adolescents and even young adults are most vulnerable to influence from media channels like movies and social media. Action movies, video games and influencers can play a significant role in shaping the mentality of teenagers. When the protagonist of a movie or series has action scenes and performs fast driving, an indirect perception is made that speed driving can make one look more like a hero or main character. Along with this, video games that involve too much violence and are played for prolonged periods can instil an aggressive approach that can be seen in tasks like driving. Moreover, several social media influencers post videos of driving too fast, teenagers get way more influenced by this compared to any other age group.

Read More: Media Psychology: Influence of Media on Behavior and Perception

Lack of awareness about self-regulation:

An adolescent has just come through a transition period to prepare for adulthood. With a lot of information available in the surroundings, a teen might get confused about what is right and what is wrong. For instance, a teen might feel older if he feels that learning to drive at an early age. Teenagers are often not taught about how to deal with hormonal imbalances. How to make decisions in everyday situations based on both extrinsic environmental factors as well as intrinsic factors with bodily changes.

Hormonal surge: 

With the onset of adolescence, hormonal turmoil initiates, especially like testosterone in males. Research has shown how the testosterone hormone is stimulated with fast driving. To get these hormone receptors stimulated fast enough, adolescents can feel this urge to perform tasks like speed driving, listening to fast music and involving in aggressive or violent acts.

Alcohol intake:

Substance abuse is gaining prevalence. With alcohol and cigarettes now becoming the new cool, it is important to signify how the sources have increased reach for substance abuse. Various research has shown how substance abuse disorders have increased cases in both developing and developed countries.

Read More: The Jellinek Curve: Five Phases of Alcohol Addiction

Dealing with it

Awareness: 

Regular workshops, especially in educational setup, can help a lot of adolescents in guiding them on how to deal with the transition of adolescence from childhood. From formulating perspectives that become the core part of further personality to ways of handling day-to-day activities, education and awareness are necessary to help them out.

Demonstration:  

Adolescents when enter this age, go beyond just their academic life, they adapt to their surroundings through incidental learning. What they see in their immediate environment becomes their habits. It is thus quite significant that they see and adapt the right things, both from their home to their educational and social setup.

Communication with parents: 

The bond with which parents talk to their adolescents is of utmost importance. Various psycho-social developmental theories interpret the age of adolescence as a confusion of their role. Forming relationships with others, both parents and peers helps to attain a better self-image and social image. Parents are the first and primary caregivers of a teen. Having a deeper connection helps to not seek any unethical and unhealthy means of stress-relieving.

Positive Psychology:

The therapeutic interpretation of positive psychology has come up to be one of the most effective ways of dealing with substance abuse and habits of speeding.  A strength-based approach can provide a new dimension of perspective, gradually delineating the habit that is to be improvised.