Boston Parents Need to Know Risks for Teen Drivers
As the most dangerous driving season approaches for teens across Back Bay, Fenway, Allston, Beacon Hill, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, parents need to be aware of the risks that their kids are facing. With prom, graduation, spring break and summer vacations upon us, kids are likely going to be spending a lot of time in cars with friends. An experienced personal injury lawyer knows that these young people face significant risk of becoming involved in a motor vehicle accident if they engage in high-risk behaviors. Parents should talk to their children about how to stay safe. 
What Risks Do Kids Face?
Determining the dangers for kids behind the wheel can be difficult because police accident reports are not always comprehensive. Naturalistic studies review data in the moments leading up to a motor vehicle collision in order to identify contributing factors and get a better understanding of driver behavior. Unfortunately, these studies have largely been limited to small sample sizes.
Now the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has conducted a large-scale study of 1,691 collisions involving drivers between the ages of 16 and 19. AAA examined crash data from major crash types including T-bone or angle crashes; road departure accidents; single-vehicle collisions; and rear-end accidents.
There were different top causes for each accident type. For example, in single vehicle accidents, 79 percent of young drivers were found to be driving faster than they should be based on the conditions on the road at the time of the incident. In crashes where one driver was rear-ended, 36 percent of teens were tailgating or following too closely behind. In angle crashes, 43 percent of teen drivers failed to yield.
Parents need to talk to teens about leaving a safe following distance, going the speed limit or slower if necessary to be safe, and deciding when to yield. Many teens lack the knowledge to make these decisions. Decision-errors like failing to yield were a contributing factor in 66 percent of crashes. Kids should have plenty of practice drive time with parents in the car and parents should model good behavior for their children when the parent is driving.
Another big issue that parents need to talk to their kids about is not having a lot of friends in the car with them, nor getting into cars full of teenagers. Many young people ride together during summer break and for special school events. Having fellow teens as passengers in a car can be very dangerous. Passengers were present in 36 percent of all crashes involving young adult drivers and in 84 percent of cases where there were passengers in the car, the passengers were fellow teens.
Having passengers in the car, along with using cell phones, were the two most common causes of distracted driving crashes. Driver inattention or distraction played a role in causing 58 percent of all collisions. Cell phone use was only a factor in a small portion of these crashes (12 percent overall). The more people who are in a car with a young driver, the greater the risk of a collision.
Boston accident victims may contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1. Serving Boston, Back Bay, Fenway, North End, South End, Allston, Beacon Hill, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and surrounding areas.
