I remember getting my license and driving around like I was all that and more.  I didn’t understand the importance of what being behind the wheel of a car meant. The dangers actually!  2 months after getting my license I rear-ended another vehicle. I took my eyes off the road without realizing the impact it could have.

When my oldest daughter Amber got her license I was sure she wouldn’t get in an accident because she was very conscious in her everyday life, she had an accident 1 week after getting her license.  My youngest daughter didn’t get into an accident the first year although we all admitted it was a miracle because she drove like Mr. Magoo, causing many accidents behind her, we were sure.

National Teen Driving Statistics (found at Rocky Mountain Insurance association)

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.
• 16 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.
• 16-year-olds are three times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than the average of all drivers.
• 3,490 drivers age 15-20 died in car crashes in 2006, up slightly from 2005.
• Drivers age 15-20 accounted for 12.9 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes in 2006.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the economic impact of auto accidents involving 15-20 year old drivers is over $40 billion.
• A recent report by AAA estimates the cost of crashes involving 15-17 year olds to be $34 billion.
• Graduated Driving programs appear to be making a difference. Fatal crashes involving 15- to 20-year olds in 2005 were down 6.5 percent from 7,979 in 1995, to the lowest level in ten years.
• Fewer 16-year-olds are driving. In 2006 only 30 percent of 16-year-olds had their driver’s licenses compared to 40% in 1998 according to the Federal Highway Administration.
• According to a 2005 survey of 1,000 people ages 15 and 17, conducted by the Allstate Foundation
  • More than half (56 percent) of young drivers use cell phones while driving,
  • 69 percent said that they speed to keep up with traffic
  • 64 percent said they speed to go through a yellow light.
  • 47 percent said that passengers sometimes distract them.
  • Nearly half said they believed that most crashes involving teens result from drunk driving.
• 31 percent of teen drivers killed in 2006 had been drinking, according to NHTSA. 25 percent had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.
• Statistics show that 16 and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger (IIHS).

My Suggestion to parents of teens that are going to start driving is “Practice makes Perfect” and “Education gives knowledge”.  So, talk to them about driving and the dangers, and what it means to be behind the wheel of a heavy piece of equipment that can kill someone.  Show them the stats.

In that 6 months period where they have their permit and you are teaching them how to drive, take it seriously, it is your job.  First have them drive every time you both get into the car, I know this isn’t easy, but it’s necessary.  If you can’t, get your spouse to do it, but just do it. Practice does make perfect.

Send them to a Driving program above and beyond your training and the schools Drivers Ed.  The more they know about driving and how to avoid dangerous situations the better chance you have of them not getting into an accident.  If you don’t take this seriously, they won’t.

Looking at the Stats, we know that this is a serious matter, so lets treat it as one. As a parent we have a lot of things we have to teach our teens, and a lot of them are life saving issues.  Do the research together on the Internet and ask them if they know anyone that has been in  a car accident and died. Chances are they have and so they will understand the importance of talking about driving and they will be excited to get a lot of experience behind the wheel.  One of the complaints teens have with learning to drive is that their parents don’t let them drive enough before they go out on their own.

So do your job and prepare your teen for operating a heavy piece of machinery, and have fun while your at it.

Tags: AAA, Allstate foundation, cars, communicate, drivers ed, federal highway administration, teen driving, texting while driving, vehicles

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 11:01 am and is filed under General, Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.