The TEEN DRIVER. Knows everything, is indestructible, fearless, cool, some are obedient, some not so much and yet for all their attributes (good or bad), when it comes to driving, they lack one big ticket item. EXPERIENCE. As a parent, you try everything you know to give them the skills they need to succeed in life. What if they don't make it that far? what if the one thing you skimped on detail was teaching them how to drive? I know it takes a lot ( x10) of patience and can be time consuming but your teen driver deserves the best training available, be it by you or a qualified driving academy. Parents, the statistics for teen driving fatalities is staggering. More shocking, is the number of teen traffic incidents involving alcohol. Active parents have said that, the one thing they wished they had more time for was driving instruction of their teen. Harmony says MAKE TIME! Below are the stats for teen driving incidents as of a 2006 study by the NHTSA.
National Teen Driving Statistics
- 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 drivers license 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).
When driving errors are responsible for 82% of all teen driving incidents, it is obviously an inexperience issue. We are in the business of teaching improved driving habits to drivers of all ages and disciplines of driving, however, we have a real concern for getting it right when it comes to our teen courses. We teach them like they are our own and send them out knowing they only retained about half of what they just learned. It is frightening from that moment on. We contact each parent and provide them other resources of helpful information. As a reader of this blog, we will tell you that the Internet is full great advice and some not so great. You can also learn of tragedies experienced by parents and some really funny driving tales about teens. So take the time and learn for yourself how to prepare for the task of teaching a teen to drive.
We will be praying for you.
MAY IS NATIONAL YOUTH TRAFFIC SAFETY MONTH and Harmony on the Highways wants you get to involved with your teen driver. please visit these links and learn more.
CDC
Teen driving.com
NOYS.org
Century Council
Thanks for reading and keep your children safe.
0 comments:
Post a Comment