Car Crashes Number One Killer Of Teenagers In U.S.
According to a new National Safety Council poll, 76 percent of parents don’t know the biggest threat to their child’s safety: car crashes are the Number One killer of teens in the U.S.
"Parents tend to worry most about the things we hear in the news, like cyber bullying and drug and alcohol use," said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. "But car crashes are the number one killer of teens. Ensuring our most vulnerable drivers safely gain the experience they need will result in more teens attending prom and graduation, not their friends’ funerals."
While cars, trucks and sport-utes are safer now than ever, drivers face more distractions than ever, which balances out the safety improvements. Teens are especially susceptible to things like texting while driving, talking to other passengers, etc.
A few important points about teens behind the wheel:
- Other teen passengers are one of the biggest distractions for teen drivers. Just one teen passenger raises a teen driver’s fatal crash risk 44 percent. Two passengers doubles fatal crash risk. Three or more quadruples crash risk.
- Most fatal nighttime crashes involving teen drivers happen between 9 p.m. and midnight.
- More than half of teens killed in car crashes were not restrained by a seatbelt.
These points are all representative of one overriding factor: experience or a lack thereof. Teens crash most often because they don’t have the experience to deal with many situations they’ll come across when behind the wheel.
Albeit there is no substitute for experience, parents play a big role in what kind of drivers their children will be on the road, often modeling the behavior they see from mom and dad, Hersman noted, adding that setting rules for new drivers is important as well.
Here is a list of suggestions for providing structure for new drivers:
- Buckle up on every trip, and make sure passengers are buckled, too
- Keep household rules in place, even after school lets out. One third of parents surveyed said they allow risky behaviors during vacations, like driving late at night
- Practice with teens, even after licensure, to ensure they are retaining good driving habits
- Model good behaviors. Ninety-five percent of parents who drive distracted do so in front of their teens.
- Set household cell phone rules. More than half of teens feel pressure from their families to drive distracted
NAFA Fleet Management Association
http://www.nafa.org/