The best way for new teen drivers to gain experience is through parent-supervised practice driving where parents can share their wisdom accumulated over many years of driving.
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If you’re driving this weekend, the National Safety Council has advice to help you keep your family safe.
In light of these Deadly Days, AAA Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to saving lives by preventing traffic crashes, designed a study to examine vehicle accidents involving drivers between the ages of 16 and 19.
In about 59 percent of crashes, the driver was distracted immediately before the crash, the investigators found. This is more than four times than the government’s official statistics on crashes involving distracted driving, the researchers said.
One of the biggest reasons for the summer risk increase is that teens may driving more frequently with more of their friends. That top spot, goes to passengers contributing to 15 percent of crashes, compared to 12 percent for cell phones.
This is perhaps unsurprising based on data collected by Pew Research Centre, which showed texting is the favourite form of phone communication among teenagers, and the average teen sends 80 messages a day.
Mary Maguire, public affairs and legislative director for AAA Northeast, says teens are at greater risk during these weeks in the summer because they are behind the wheel more often during this time. But drivers can be distracted by talking with passengers, or eating and drinking.
AAA said the study revealed that among rear-end crashes, the average eyes off the road time significantly increased from 1.5 to 2.1 seconds, as did the duration of the longest glance, from 1.5 to 2.1 seconds.
Added Ms Ryan: “Nearly two thirds of people injured or killed in crashes involving a teen driver are people other than the teen themselves”. Or are you a teen driver yourself? The Association’s advocacy efforts are helping to protect teens by working to pass graduated driver licensing laws and teen wireless bans in states across the country.
“What most parents would be shocked to see, the inside environment of teen vehicle with teen passengers, there’s just a lot of distractions”, said Johnson.
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Teach by example and minimize distractions when driving.
