NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – There is still work to do when it comes to keeping teen drivers safe on the roads.
The good news is that teen crashes have decreased. But, nearly two-thirds of those killed or injured in a teen driver crash are people other than the teen behind the wheel and summer continues to be the most dangerous time for young drivers.
In 2013 alone, 371,645 people were injured and 2,927 were killed in crashes that involved a teen driver.
This information can be found in a new report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
This report ushers in at the beginning of the “100 Deadliest Days” of summer, the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day when teen crash fatalities historically climb.
The study analyzed police-reported crashes of driver aged 15-19, from 1994-2013 and found that:
· In the past 20 years, nonfatal injury crashes and fatal crashes of teen drivers decreased by 51 percent and 56 percent respectively. In comparison, all non-fatal and fatal crashes including those of teen drivers fell by 25 percent and 17 percent respectively.
· While the overall number of teen crashes are down, the majority of people killed (66 percent) and injured (67 percent) in crashes involving a teen driver are people other than the teen themselves
· Nearly 50 percent of those injured were in another vehicle; 17 percent were in the teen driver’s car; and 2 percent were either a pedestrian or bicyclist
· Nearly 30 percent of those killed were in another car, 27 percent were the teen’s passenger and 10 percent were either a pedestrian or bicyclist
· The U.S. government’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System shows that in 2013, an average of 220 teen drivers and passengers died in traffic crashes during each of the summer months, a 43 percent increase compared to the rest of the year.
“To help their teen drivers to be safe on the roads this summer parents can create a contract with their teen,” suggests Cynthia Harris, AAA Northern California spokesperson. “This contract could use the Graduated Driving laws as a guideline to include nighttime curfews, limitation on the number of passengers, and prohibiting the use of cell phones and other distractions. Parents can also ride with their teens to monitor their progress and to help them with new driving situations such as canyon or freeway driving.”
AAA has online resources to help parents coach teen through the learning-to-drive process and has sample parent teen driving contracts at www.TeenDriving.AAA.com .
The AAA StartSmart online program is helpful to parents to quickly become effective in-car coaches, make informed decisions about access to a vehicle and manage their teen’s overall driving privileges.
'100 Deadliest Days' begin for teens; teen crashes down but risk continues
- Lake County News reports
- Posted On