Submitted by Congressman Chris Lee
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens and young adults in the United States. With this week being National Teen Driver Safety Week (October 18-24, 2009), now is the perfect time to speak with your child about the importance of driving safely.
National Teen Driver Safety Week aims to bring teens, parents, educators, legislators, and other community leaders together to help prevent teen crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
The numbers simply do not lie: 6,130 youth under the age of 21 were involved in fatal vehicle crashes in 2008. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), teen drivers represent less than 7 percent of the driving public, but account for more than 13 percent of drivers involved in all deadly crashes.
However these 6,130 youth that lost their lives are more than a number. These are youth taken in the prime of their lives. They will never be able to play sports and join clubs in high school, walk across the stage at graduation, or engage in activities that millions of their peers enjoy every single day.
We know that there are several important factors that play a significant role in the incidence of teens involved in vehicle crashes. First, the leading cause of teen driver crashes is driver error or speeding. As all parents know, teens believe they are invincible. Better education is needed to inform students of the severity of a vehicle crash and the very real consequences to themselves, their passengers, and the general public of operating a vehicle in an unsafe manner.
Second, the younger the driver the more likely they are to be involved in a fatal crash. Statistics provided by the NTSB show that sixteen-year-old drivers are more than twice as likely to be involved in fatal crashes as older drivers. Additionally, two thirds of the passengers who were killed in teen driver crashes were teenagers themselves.
Additionally, a variety of distractions – cell phones, food/beverage consumption, loud music, etc. – make it increasingly difficult for the driver to focus their attention on operating their vehicle in a safe manner. A recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study showed that driver distraction contributes to about 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes. It is important to reinforce the idea that once a vehicle is in motion, the driver must devote his or her full attention to the task at hand – operating their vehicle safely.
By encouraging teens to adopt safe driving habits, managing peer-to-peer interactions while in a vehicle, and reinforcing the need to detect and react to hazards more appropriately, teens will be better prepared to drive responsibly, and our roads will be much safer.
Please take this opportunity to talk to your teen about safe driving habits. No family should have to incur the heartache that so many families across the country feel every year.