Troubled Teens Resources

Rules are meant to be broken right? Diverting momentarily from our usual topic of teenage drug abuse, we bring your attention to the phenomena known as trunking.

Yes, trunking. Have a clue?

Well, if yours is one of the states that are restricting teen driving priveleges by limiting the age and number of passengers they can have in their car, then your at-risk teenagers may have resorted to putting their buddies in the trunk.

It comes down to respect in the end. Respect for parents and the respect for the rules can only be gained by teenagers suffering the consequences that arise from breaking those rules. Some authorities are suggesting a teen driver’s license be suspended if they “trunk” their friends. Given how desperately teenagers want to have driving priveleges, depriving them of the same may just make the lesson stick.

“A startling new trend has emerged among teenagers. Just to get around the new graduated license laws - that ban new drivers from having other kids in the car - some teens are now riding in the trunk.

Every state is a little different, but the rules for teen driving across the country are getting stricter.

16-year-old Karla Greene explains: “Once you get your license you can only have family members in the car.”

“And then,” says 18-year-old Matt Simon, “you can’t drive past midnight until you turn 18.”

But, says Bob Wilson of the National Safety Council, “we’re trying to keep our teens safe - and it’s proven that by restricting other teenage passengers it reduces risk to them.”

But many teens, inconvenienced by the new rules, have found a way to get around them.

It’s called “trunking.”

“I’ve ridden in the trunk a few times,” says 20-year-old David Mack, “We had too many people in the car and I was the smallest one, so it all came down to me.”

But many kids fail to realize that trunking is not only illegal- it’s incredibly dangerous.

Best friends Chris Snyder and Scott Atchison were riding in the trunk of a car when they hit a tree. “The trunk lid popped open in the crash, ejected them onto the highway and they were run over,” says Wilson.

Sadly, both teens died.”
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