Perils Of Teen Drivers

Several factors contribute to distractive drivers of any age. Cell phones would rate the greatest threat to teen drivers. Incoming calls and text messaging would rate the greatest threat would instantly distract most teens. Any inattention to the road could cause a serious or lethal accident. A few months ago in Casa Grande, AZ an accident involving a teen who was texting lost his life with another passenger seriously injured in the opposing car. “According to the American Automobile Association, almost half of teens admit to texting while driving.” (Distracted Driving 253) Other distractions would include programming global positioning system, smoking, eating, drinking, and applying make-up.

Teenagers are more likely to speed than older drivers because people have less developed brains at the ages of 16 or 17 than at 21 or 22. As a result, one in four teenagers are aggressive drivers and almost twenty percent of teenagers admit that they enjoy speeding, as stated in the New York Times. Drunk driving is a recent problem even among adults. Although drinking and driving is illegal, and drinking under the age of twenty one is illegal, twenty-five percent of all fatal car crashes caused by teens involve an underage drunk driver. Teenagers also have the lowest rate of seat belt use, and seat belts are the most effective way of reducing accidents. In addition, texting while driving is the number one cause of car accidents among teenagers due to the development of social media. This causes teens to drive while looking down at their phones, which can eventually put them in the hospital. Therefore, raising the driving age to 21 will prevent teens from dying due to car accidents-- the number one cause of teen deaths in 2013, according to the CDC Injury

Death among U.S. teens is led by vehicle crashes. In the year of 2013, around 2,163 teens were killed between the ages of 16-10 in the United States. Around 243,243 were treated in emergency departments for injuries that they suffered in motor vehicle accidents. Around 75% of teen drivers suffer in these accidents due to 3 major mistakes. Those major mistakes include a lack of scanning the road, distractions in the vehicle, and also going to fast for the conditions of the road.

Teen driving allows American youth to have their license between the ages 13-15. At this age, our American youth are more likely to be careless while driving without supervision. The younger teen drivers are the more susceptible to fatal car accidents they will be due to the lack of supervision and proper driver’s education. Lack of maturity and experiences leads to developing poor driving habits. The teens in the age group 16-18 are usually more mature in handling a motorized vehicle. States that allow 13-15 year old teens drive are more likely to get in more car crashes from driving earlier and not having enough experience.

I was surprised that driver distraction accounted for so little of the fatalities. Many teenage drivers become very distracted very easily. There are so many distracting things texting, music, and driving with other teenagers in the vehicle. The Driver’s Handbook also says later that 9% of crashes on Utah Highways involving teens are caused by distracted driving. I am surprised that it is so low given what a broad and prominent category “Driver Distraction”

Copeland’s article about teen driving claims that teens know the consequences of distracted driving. However, they continue to use their phones and participate in such behaviors. Copeland states that most

Although distracted driving is a problem for all drivers, it specifically is a major problem for teenagers. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for American teens. When it comes to distracted driving, young people are the most likely to text and talk behind the wheel ("Distracted Driving Facts"). In Idaho between the years of 2010 and 2014, the age group 15-19 experienced the most crashes, with the age group 20-24 coming second. Teenagers also contributed to 10% of fatal car crashes and a little over 15% of serious injury car crashes ("Distracted Crash

Especially in teenage drivers technology has taken a major toll on a lot of their lives and their parents lives. Technology is killing many people in the new century, and more and more technology is being produced right this minute. Technology helps us in many good ways and many bad ways depending on the circumstances. Distracted driving endangers life and property and the current levels of injury and loss are unacceptable (FCC). Teenage male drivers are one and a half times more likely to die in car crashes than teenage female drivers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many teenagers try and focus on capturing the moments they have in a car by using snapchat not paying any attention to their surroundings. Adults are not really into things like snapchat and instagram but they also use their phones as a distraction from the road. Studied have found having inexperienced drivers on the road is increasing the amount of deaths caused by a distracted driver. Inexperienced drivers try to focus on everything else but what they need to which is the road and their surroundings. Teens are new to driving and should pay attention to the road more than their phones because they are new to handing a vehicle. Researchers have found the age range of deaths due to distracted drivers is 16-20 years old. Throughout the years the deaths of

In the United States, Reckless driving is the number one cause of teenage death in the nation. Reckless driving can be classified as anything from speeding and swerving, to purposely trying to run someone over, or hurt them while driving. In America, there are countless organizations calling to help end the high death rate in teenagers that reckless driving takes. People such as Parents, Drivers Education Instructors and even state legislators have realized the problem and are seeking reform. In 2011 alone 2,650 teens between the ages of 16-19 were killed due to reckless driving. (CDC) Reckless driving is a death that is very preventable, with proper education and warning. As well as problem that is not taken seriously by the juvenile’s committing the act. Most juveniles don’t worry what so ever about dying in a car crash because they think that it won’t happen to them. Under Reckless Driving, in Green Bay, speeding, not paying attention and lack of caring are three of the biggest issues with teen drivers and juveniles.

87% of the 6000 teens that die every year, die because of driving with distractions according to Allstate Insurance spokeswoman Megan Brunett (ABC News2014). Distractions range from cell phone use to passengers. “40% of teens say that they’ve been

This fact proves how teens are easily distracted when driving. More than 10,000 teenagers died in Tennessee from speeding in the years from 2005-2008. This proves that teens do have a tendency to speed while driving, let alone this is just one of the 50 states in the U.S (Teen Driver Safety, page 1”). There are many facts about teen driving and all of the facts I have collected just prove my reasons to be more correct than they already are.

Teenager drivers are notorious for high accident rates. It is asking a lot of a teenager to drive responsibly when their vehicle is full of friends going out to party. It could be way to easy for whomever is driving to get distracted, or to get wrapped up in the moment and try to show off to their friends. It only takes being distracted for one second for an accident to occur.

Everyone has a different opinion on exactly how we should deal with teens driving. How we should restrict them until they’re older or not, If there should be special limitations, or if a curfew should be in place. Everyone has an answer, but nobody has an answer that will address all of the issues. The many different takes have pros and cons.

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and young adults. More than 5,000 young people die every year in car crashes and thousands more are injured. Drivers who are 16 years old are more than 20 times as likely to have a crash, as are other drivers. There are two main reasons why teens are at a higher for being in a car crash and lack of driving experience and their tendency to take risks while driving. Teens drive faster and do not control the car as well as more experienced drivers. Their judgment in traffic is often insufficient to avoid a crash. In addition, teens do most of their driving at night, which can be even more difficult. Standard driver's education classes include 30 hours of classroom teaching and 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training. This is not enough time to fully train a new driver. Teen drivers are more like to be influence by peers and other stresses and distractions. This can lead to reckless driving behaviors such as speeding, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and not wearing safety belts. There is no safe amount that you can drink and still drive. Even one drink can influence your driving offences. “Nowadays, drunk driving has become driving while intoxicated, driving while impaired, driving while under the influence, operating while under the influence (impaired, intoxicated, or whatever), and in many

Third reason of accidents on the road is teenage drivers. “2,739 teenagers died in car accidents in the United States during 2008 ", (drivesteady.com). Some teenagers cause fatal accidents, because of immaturity and lack of experience. Teenagers are very impulsive. Although not intending to hurt anyone, they sometimes drive very aggressively. It is not difficult to find teenagers driving with one hand on the steering wheel, seat pushed back, and with loud music playing. In traffic they go wild, trying to seek attention. They underestimate the risk of what they are doing. All these acts result in serious consequences on the road. Many accidents of young drivers result from their own mistakes.