Teen driver safety week in 2018 is October 21 – 27. The observation is intended to encourage teens, parents, and safety professionals to think about effective new efforts to make teen/young drivers safer on
our roads.
A recent study conducted by Allstate uncovered some very interesting and surprising facts. Among those facts are these:
- Forty percent of parents of teen drivers do not regularly talk with their teen children about safe driving.
- Of those parents who monitor their teens, 69 percent do so by using a smartphone app. Only 59 percent of these parents monitor daily, and 40 percent monitor weekly.
- The greatest concerns about teen driver safety were
- Use of phone when driving (64%)
- Speeding (50%)
- Distraction due to surroundings (48%)
- Distraction due to the radio (44%)
- 67% of parents believe they were safe drivers in their teen years.
- 67% of parents believe their teen children are safe drivers.
- Three in every four parents of teens believe that their teens only rarely drive dangerously.
- Nine percent of Americans have a teen driver (aged 15-18).
- The number one cause of death for teens at every single age between 16 and 23 is an auto accident. This is true for both drivers and passengers.
[Source: InsuranceJournal.com]
The urgency of finding effective approaches to changing dangerous driving behaviors in Virginia’s teens is clear. The chart above show that with slightly more than two months remaining in the year, the number of teen deaths due to auto accidents already exceeds last year.
The Allstate survey (see above) focused on the lack of monitoring and involvement of many parents in their teens’ driving behavior. They suggested that teens “flip the script” on parents this week. Instead of waiting for parents to lecture them on safe driving, they might be more successful if they challenge themselves and one another to drive safely every time they drive a vehicle.
If the data from the survey and the conclusions drawn by those who sponsored it are reliable, it suggests that perhaps the most effective way to exert a positive influence on teen driving habits is “through the positive influence of the people closest to you.” Clearly, this reliance on peer influence does not absolve parents of their responsibility to teach their teens safe and responsible driving habits. We can only hope that the combination of the influence of parents and peers will encourage more teens to become safe drivers and prevent these teen driver auto accidents.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an auto accident call Altizer Law, P.C., and trust the experience and commitment of a top auto accident attorney team to represent you in seeking compensation for your hurts and harms. If your teen group or class wishes to invite a dynamic speaker to address your group, call Bettina Altizer. The entire team at Altizer Law, P.C. in Roanoke, VA is firmly committed to helping teens become safer drivers.
