Jackson County General Law Blog

Millennials nowadays have a reputation for being lazy, entitled and unreliable, and while some of these claims are likely without much merit, there is one area in which it seems they have earned their bad reputation: on the road. Millennial drivers across Missouri and the rest of the country are so bad, in fact, that the vast majority of them admit to taking unnecessary risks behind the wheel. When they do so, however, they endanger themselves and everyone else who crosses their path.

According to USA Today, an alarming 88 percent of American motorists between the ages of 19 and 24 admit to engaging in risky behaviors while driving. Many of them are also frequent offenders, with some admitting to performing certain dangerous driving actions within the past 30 days. Just what types of risky driving behaviors are today’s millennial motorists adopting?

Most drivers find themselves in situations where officers have issued traffic tickets to them for various reasons. Officers may have accused a driver of driving over the speed limit, failing to stop at a stop sign, running a red light, failing to yield or several other possible traffic violations. While many people do not consider traffic tickets serious, they can have a significant impact on your driving record.

In Missouri, tickets can lead to points on your driving record. When accumulated to certain numbers and within certain periods of time, these points could have serious repercussions. Having information on the point system may have you taking traffic tickets more seriously.

For many divorced Missouri parents, hearing the term “joint-custody arrangement” can conjure up feelings of sadness, loneliness and depression. When you are in the habit of having your children sleep in the same home as you every night and this suddenly changes, it can prove to be quite an adjustment. At Kelly, Symonds & Reed, LLC, we recognize that it may help you to know that joint-custody arrangements can actually prove highly advantageous for children of divorce, and we have helped many divorcing Missourians navigate custody and related issues.

According to Time, children of divorce who live in both parents’ homes tend to fare better in numerous areas than their peers who are also children of divorce, but who live only with one parent or the other. For starters, children whose parents have joint-custody arrangements tend to fare better physically, with kids in this group proving less likely to report suffering from stomachaches, headaches or sleeping issues.

Going through a divorce can be an emotional process, especially when there are kids involved. Children may go from living with the emotional and financial support of both parents, to residing in a single-parent household. Furthermore, they may get limited to no time with their other parent. A study published in the Journal of Family Psychology found that children who are raised in joint-custody situations may experience benefits when compared to children who reside in sole-custody arrangements.

During the study, researchers looked at children in sole-custody, joint-custody and in-tact family arrangements. They found that kids who were raised in joint-custody had a higher self-esteem, exhibited fewer behavioral problems and had stronger family relationships than those who were brought up in sole-custody households. In addition, kids who are able to spend a significant amount of time with both parents did better in school and had better careers. It may be because parents in joint-custody situations generally have a better parenting relationship, which causes less stress for the children.