This month is teen driving awareness month, and a great time to sit down with your new drivers and explain just what being a safe and aware driver entails. Car accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers. 6 teenagers will lose their lives in a car accident each day. This number is staggering! It is important to have a conversation about safe driving with your teenagers in order to help reduce the number of preventable accidents that occur on our roads daily.
Lack of experience on the road is what leads to a majority of accidents among new drivers. According to the CDC new drivers are 3x more likely to be involved in a car accident per mile driven.
Another leading cause of accidents among young drivers is distracted driving. Cell phones being the number one distraction on the road today. This is an easy fix. Don’t use your mobile device while driving and make this a rule that you discuss with your teenagers. Eliminating cell phone use while driving can help save lives.
In 2015 3,477 people were killed and 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle accidents involving a distracted driver. This number continues to rise as people continue to use their mobile devices while driving.
While checking your texts, responding back to a tweet or updating your Snapchat feed may seem like a simple task, doing so while driving is extremely dangerous. When you choose to take your eyes off the road for as little as 5 seconds, at 55 mph, that is the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.
Top 5 causes of Teen Driving Accidents:
• The main reason for teenage car accidents is inexperience behind the wheel
• 66% of teen passengers who die in a crash are not wearing a seat belt
• 58% of teens involved in crashes are distracted
• 25% of car crashes involved an underage alcohol impaired driver
• 5% of teen deaths in crashes are pedestrians and 10% are bicyclists
Tips to share with your teen driver to avoid distracted driving:
• Keep your eyes on the road, keep your hands on the wheel
• Don’t look at passengers when talking to them
• If you need to, pull over to the side of the road or go to a parking lot to make a call or send a text
• Pull over to enter an address into navigation or Google maps, don’t do it when you are driving
• Don’t check emails when you are driving
• Never text or use your mobile device when you are driving
• Don’t consume alcohol, then get behind the wheel. Even if you think you are not drunk, your reflex time is greatly diminished after drinking alcohol
• Don’t apply makeup when driving
• Do not drive with friends in your car right away – wait to become a more experienced driver
By discussing these helpful driving tips and staggering statistics with your teen driver we can help reduce the number of accidents that occur each day.
If you or a loved one is injured in a car accident that was not your fault, call Daggett Shuler Law right away at 336-724-1234. When you call, you will speak with an experienced Winston-Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina Car Accident Attorney absolutely FREE. We will review every detail of your accident at no cost and fight hard to protect your rights.
When you call Daggett Shuler, you will speak with an experienced Winston-Salem injury attorney at no cost to you. We will investigate every detail of your situation and fight hard to protect your rights. At Daggett Shuler Law, you will never pay an attorney’s fee up front and you owe us nothing unless we recover for you.
Daggett Shuler Law – You Can Depend on Us