The trio were 2014 graduates of Herndon High School and members of the high school marching band. In fact, leading experts believe parents play a key role in preventing teen vehicle crashes and deaths. The likelihood of teen drivers engaging in risky behavior triples when traveling with multiple passengers.
Advertisement
This program, or a program similar to START, should be mandatory on some level so every child has the opportunity to learn just how risky driving is-even when everything goes smoothly-and how a few simple safe driving habits can save their life, which can end on the road in a fraction of a second.
2,614 teen passenger vehicle drivers, ages 15-19, were involved in fatal crashes.
Traffic safety officials stress that the risk of a crash increases significantly when teen drivers have teen passengers in their vehicle.
“As a professional race vehicle driver, safety is a top priority, but I am actually more concerned about it when driving on city streets than on the race track”, Nunez said.
The CHP has its own teen driver programs and works with the California Office of Traffic Safety and Impact Teen Drivers to educate young drivers about the dangers and responsibilities behind the wheel.
“Teen drivers have higher rates of crashes per driver and per mile driven than any age group of drivers”, noted John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government affairs.
October 18-24, 2015, is dedicated to raising awareness and seeking solutions to unnecessary teen deaths on the road.
AAA Foundation research shows that distraction is much more of a serious problem for teens than was previously known and distraction from a cell phone is among the top two most common forms of distraction – second only to peer passengers. Model good driving behavior for your teen by always using seat belts and never using a cell phone while driving. Most of the time, they will. If not, make the choice not to ride with them and be clear about why.
Seventy-four percent of drivers ages 16-18 say texting or emailing while driving is completely unacceptable. “You probably think your teens aren’t listening, but if this one conversation could save a life, isn’t it a conversation worth having?” That number almost tripled to 64 percent for drivers 17 and older. The latest index was conducted July through August 2015. This year’s theme is “Avoid the Regret -Avoid Impaired Driving”. In that same year, 156 people were killed in crashes that involved a distracted teen driver.
Still it raises questions.
Advertisement
Parents, teachers, mentors and adult influencers are encouraged to help keep our teen drivers safe by setting a positive example while driving.
