In Sioux Falls, SD kids can be as young as 14 and get their restricted license then driving alone at 16, where in some other states the youngest someone can drive is 18. According to the CDC, teen drivers get in fatal car crashes almost three times as much as drivers age 20 and over.
“I had just gotten a new car and forgot to turn the headlights back on after I had drained my battery from leaving them on all night previously. I also did not have my registration in my car at the time I was pulled over,” said an anonymous LHS senior. 

Forgetting to turn on headlights seems to be popular for everyone.

“I had gotten my license the week before when I was 14 and then got pulled over for not having my headlights on by scheels. It was like 6:30 p.m. in December, so it wasn’t even that late. Anyways, I didn’t know what to do or where to pull over, so I went a whole mile before I stopped. Whoops,” said an anonymous LHS senior. 

“I was pulled over at like 10 pm because I accidentally cut the cop off. My car’s blinker was out at the time, so it was a total accident. I got a warning for failure to signal, but I was also speeding like a bat out of hell, so I am surprised I didn’t get a ticket,” said an anonymous LHS senior.

A lot of the time students are making silly mistakes or are’nt paying attention to the smallest rules of the road that are always applied. Teens who tend to drive with other teens seem to become more reckless and therefore, speed.

“Three friends and I were being stupid and were driving around the trails at Harmodon Park very late at night. A police spotted us and said he was giving us a $170 ticket for trespassing after hours. We got out of it thankfully,” said an anonymous LHS senior.

“When I was 12, I was hanging out with some of older roller derby teammates who were 14 and 15 so they could drive. We were out at 3am goofing around at Walmart and getting McDonald’s, then we got pulled over. The officers yanked me out of the car and questioned me. A solid 15 different questions for me. One being why I don’t live with my dad… odd question I guess. They looked through the window with flash lights the entire time and never asked questions to anyone else. They obviously called my mother but she was chill,” said an anonymous LHS senior. 

Then there are students who maybe just are not paying attention.

“I was stopped by the police when I was on the side of the road after I crashed my car into an electrical pole,” said an anonymous LHS senior. 

There are a few misunderstandings when it comes to getting pulled over and speaking to police. Just because someone does not get in trouble through the police, they still might get in trouble at home. Or both.

“After golfing in downpouring rain, I went to burger king to get a spicy chicken sandwich. As I left to go home I went through an intersection when I all of a sudden saw flashing lights behind me. I was definitely a bit scared, but the officer felt bad that I didn’t see the stop sign that is objectively a bit confusing, as the intersection has like 6 roads. I got off with a warning, but my burger king definitely got a bit cold,” said an anonymous LHS senior. 

“I have been stopped by the police while coming back to school from a blended class, which was 6th period. I was getting in my car from getting crumble cookies for my friends and I realized that it was 2:15. How does time fly? I was on 1-229 and I got pulled over by a cop for going 80. Yeah, my mom grounded me for 3 weeks for getting a ticket but at least I got six big cookies to myself during that time,” said an anonymous LHS senior. 

“I was going home from marching band on the interstate, I wanted to get home really bad and before I realized it I was going 20 over and getting pulled over by a highway patrolman. To make matters worse this was also after 10 so he had to make sure I was coming from a school event,” said an anonymous LHS junior.

“Twas’ a calm winter’s eve, when a song that was quite grand came upon my radio set device.  This influenced my foot to push upon the pedal of gas with a grander force than I could have imagined. As it happened, however, an officer of the law was within close proximity to my vehicle. I respectfully pulled over into, in fact, this very parking lot, and received a traffic citation,” said anonymous LHS sophomore. 

“One time my bus started rolling down a hill, it was me and one other person on the bus. The driver was outside smoking. Me and the girl had to run and stop the bus. After a couple more stops the police finally caught up to the bus and the bus driver was fired,” said an anonymous LHS freshman. 

The younger the driver is the more rules are applied. If they get pulled over, there goes their license for a month. If they are driving past state curfew, they could get pulled over just for being out. As drivers get older and finally get that official license, those rules do not apply to them. Although that does not mean they get to do whatever they want and they will get away with things. Stories like these can be funny to tell, maybe not as funny as a $200 ticket to pay, but remember to be safe while driving because something as small as speeding could result in a fatal crash and loss of a life.