According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fatal crashes on U.S. highways were at a record low last year, they continue to be the leading cause of death among teens ages 16 to 20, with more than 5,000 teens in this age group killed every year.
Research has shown that teenagers are often unable to detect driving hazards, underestimate risks in hazardous situations and take more risks when behind the wheel. They are also less likely to wear their seat belts. Moreover, young men, as well as people living in rural areas, are among the least likely to buckle up.
Now many states, including California, have taken action to prevent teenage traffic deaths. In 1998, the state implemented a
graduated driver’s license program, which aims to give young people more experience on the road.
Teens are permitted to have an instructional permit at 15½ and can obtain a provisional driver’s license at 16 (provided they have had driver training). But they are not allowed to drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., use any cell phone or communication device (even hands free) and must wait a year before transporting passengers under the age of 20. Three years ago, the CHP began offering the voluntary Start Smart program, designed to educate newly licensed teen drivers.
The program, which requires class attendance of at least one parent, emphasizes traffic avoidance techniques, parental responsibilities and seatbelt usage, said Joe Vega, a spokesman for the CHP in San Luis Obispo County.
It’s unclear to what extent the restrictions on teen driving or programs launched by law enforcement have prevented fatalities. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles is conducting a study that might provide answers. A national study in 2006 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showed such measures have succeeded in reducing fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers an average of 11 percent.
The bottom line, said Vega, is that “education and awareness are the answer.”
To those in mourning, these statistics and state programs probably mean little. No one knows why the lives of Nikolas, Darac and Andrew were taken so soon. And facts and figures certainly will not bring them back.
By calling attention to the rules and regulations, perhaps teenagers and parents will have frank discussions about what it means to be safe on the road.
So, if you have a teen driver, each and every time they take the keys to the car, ask them to be careful, remind them that life is precious. And above all, tell them you love them.
Source- Teen traffic Deaths
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