Every day, more than 10 young drivers ages 15-20 are killed in car accidents. Another 745 teenagers are injured in car accidents. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of teen fatalities with an estimated 38% of all teenager deaths coming from car accidents. How do we stop this trend? What can we do?
First, it is important to understand the factors that lead to teenage car accidents. Inexperience, speeding, cell phone and text-messaging are the leading causes of fatal car accidents involving teenagers. Parents need to be examples for the teenagers. Parents should obey speed limits and avoid distractions while driving including talking on the cell phone.
Teenagers should not be driving teenagers. A significant percentage of 16-19 year olds killed in car accidents were riding as passengers in car driven by other teenagers. As the number of teenage passengers increases, fatal car accidents are more likely to involve a single vehicle. According to one study, with three or more teenage passengers, 85% of car accidents involved driving error, almost 50% involved speeding and almost 70% involved a single vehicle. Why? Teenage passengers can cause distractions to teenage drivers and teenage passengers may encourage risky driving behavior.
Teenagers driving at night with passengers are four to five times more likely to be involved in a car accident than when driving alone during the day. Parents should set a curfew for teenage drivers.
Together, teenagers and parents can work to reduce the number of teenagers dying or being hurt in car accidents. For information about your rights after a car accident caused by a teenage driver, click here to contact Personal Injury Attorney Matthew Noyes.
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