Tag Archives: Traffic collision

Are your Teens buckled up?

Posted on by ronifredericks

The leading cause of death for American Teens can be reduced!

Many teen deaths and life threatening injuries from car crashes are preventable.  There are proven strategies that can improve the safety of teen drivers behind the wheel, but if they are not buckling up…  the fatality statistics will continue to be high.

To many of us, wearing your seatbelt is common sense… but the fact is, teens are underestimating the danger of not wearing their seat belts. To make matters worse, teen peers are dramatically influencing this risky behavior. Is your teen wearing his/her seat belt even if it’s considered uncool?

DriveSafeRideSafe is encouraging teen driving education that combines parental involvement and peer strategies in the learning process to increase teen seat belt use and the overall safety of young drivers.

Here are the Sad Seat Belt Facts for Teens

  • Two-thirds of teens killed in crashes were not wearing seat belts.
  • Teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use in comparison to mature drivers.
  • In 2005, 10% of high school students reported they rarely or never wear seat belts when riding with someone else.
  • Male high school students (12.5%) were more likely than female students (7.8%) to rarely or never wear seat belts.
Take steps to improve your teen’s safety. Ask your teen about his/her seat belt habits. For more parental support, visit http://www.drivesaferidesafe.com for our DVD with advice for parents to help their teens before, during and after the time they’re learning to drive .

Photo credit to Butch Lysholm at oaire.com

Fact References:

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

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When should my kid start learning how to drive?

Posted on by Safe Driver

“Some parents are telling me to start early…”

Q: Dear Mike: I’m wondering when my kid should start learning to drive. Some parents are telling me to start early; others are saying to wait. What’s your opinion?
- Pat (Woodbury, MN)

A: Dear Pat: Inexperience is the number one reason teenagers die in car crashes. Because of that, my personal opinion is that you want to have as much time as possible to guide your teen while they’re learning to drive. To me, the best plan is to start them learning as soon as legally possible. While they have their learner’s permit, follow the sequence of lessons that we describe in our “Roadworthy” DVD. That will lay a good foundation of practice, and you’ll be able to judge how well their skills are developing. When you know they’re ready, they should be the ones driving anytime you’re in the car together, so they can get as much experience as possible while you’re there to catch the mistakes. And remember, just because they’ve had their learner’s permit a certain amount of time does NOT mean that they get their license! Lesson 11 of “Roadworthy” explains what I did with my own three kids; it’s the best way I know to feel secure when your teen starts driving without you.  -Mike Pehl

Find more questions and answers like this on our “Ask Mike” page

The Cost of a Crash for Teen drivers

Posted on by Jayne Ubl

Rings, No Belts and Too Many Buds-A Costly Combo

As your teen prepares to hit the books and head to high school, it might be a good idea to check their accessories. However, we’re not talking about their wardrobe; we’re talking about their driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Center for Statistics and Analysis there are certain fads your TEEN should avoid when driving the car.

 Hand-held cellphone use is highest among 16- to 24-year-olds and the fines for texting or phone use can be costly. So put your phone in the glove box or in the trunk of your car – seriously! Unless you’re waiting for a new kidney, is the call really that important?!?

37% of male drivers ages 15-20 who are involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time. What’s your hurry? The old saying “time is money” could be talking about teens  and speeding tickets because the time a teen saves by speeding can add up to a 15-45%  increase in their insurance premiums.

Statistics show that 16- and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger. Sure it’s fun to drive your buddies and besties around, but it is important, especially in the beginning, that you limit the number of passengers with your teenage drivers.  Parents, start with limiting them to 1 or 2 passengers. Let them get comfortable driving with other people and then adjust the number if you feel they can handle more passengers. This is a good compromise since your teen can still drive with their friends and you can stop worrying about your teenage drivers being distracted by too many passengers.


BUT BE CAUTIONED:

55%, or 2,014, of the 3,678 occupants of passenger vehicles ages 16-20 who are killed in crashes are not buckled up. Belts are IN. Wear them. Also be warned, teen drivers: if  passengers in your car are not belted and they are injured in a crash – insurance companies can blame the DRIVER for the injuries of any unbelted passenger.  If your teen is found to be at fault, the injured parties would have the opportunity to sue your insurance company to recover as much of those costs as possible. In the event that the insurance company doesn’t cover everything, suing you and your family would be the next logical step. If that happens, you could lose your home or possessions, along with a portion of your wages through garnishment.

31% of drivers ages 15-20 who are killed in motor vehicle crashes have been drinking  some amount of alcohol; 25% are alcohol-impaired, meaning they have a blood alcohol content of 0.08 grams per deciliter or higher. In this instance, not only would your premiums increase dramatically, it would be cause for many insurance companies to drop your policy altogether … not to mention potential jail time that would affect your life for years.
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Children’s Hospital Research On Teen Auto Accidents

Posted on by kelly1963

Research Study Analyzes Teen Car Crashes

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is a frequent co-sponsor of research about many childhood safety issues. Since teen drivers are involved in fatal crashes at four times the rate of adults, driving safety is one topic of particular concern for their researchers.

In mid-April they released the findings from a study of 800 car crashes which all involved at least one teenage driver. The study found that in those 800 crashes, seventy-five percent were caused by a critical teen driving error. Saying it this way is perhaps not scientific, but it is startling: “600 crashes could have been prevented if those teens had better-established driving skills.”

In fact, just three common errors were responsible for nearly half of the serious crashes.

  • 21% happened because of lack of scanning.
  • 21% happened because of excessive speed for road conditions.
  • 20% happened because of distraction.
The purpose of research in this arena is of course, to discover opportunities to keep teen drivers safer and prevent unnecessary tragedies. It seems clear that the findings from this study support our message about the power of parents for teens learning to drive.

Lack of scanning

The research study authors note that scanning is a higher-level skill which needs time to develop. That correlates precisely with Mike Pehl’s insistence that teens need as much practice time as possible with their parent in the passenger seat. In our “Roadworthy” DVD, Mike teaches how to help your teen understand the importance of scanning. His explanations about intersections, the shoulder area of roads, and how to recognize the level of risk from approaching vehicles, are critically important. A teenager who has gotten plenty of practice time with a parent who knows how to explain those hazards, will be a driver who has the established habit of scanning properly. “Experience, experience, experience,” as Mike says, is the key.

Excessive Speed for Road Conditions

This error was not simply a case of a lot of teenagers pretending to be at the Daytona 500. Driving too fast to successfully navigate a curve, or too fast to respond to others, are the kinds of speed-related errors cited in the study. Once again, these fall into the category of mistakes that are much less likely to be made by a teenager who has had enough practice time in the wide variety of locations & situations recommended by Mike. Taking a curve too fast is a mistake that parents can notice when riding with their learner’s-permit driver, and that gives them the chance to help their teen correct their perception of what is safe, before it becomes a potentially fatal error. Teen drivers do not have an established “feel” for how-fast-is-too-fast when they are just starting to drive, so the coaching from their parents in that early stage is very important. As Mike says, “teach the good habits now.” Learning the hard way is not a good plan.

Distraction

Distracted driving is a hot topic right now, and this research study did conclude that being distracted by something inside (or outside!) of the vehicle, was one of the three primary causes for the 800 crashes that were studied. It is certainly a significant risk, but it’s interesting to notice the proportion of the statistics; all three errors are almost equally weighted in the study. Public perception right now is much more focussed on distracted driving than the other two fundamental errors, however, and there can be danger in concentrating so much on one issue that you ignore others. Mike Pehl’s advice related to phones is to shut them off when you’re in the car, but beyond that he has a much broader understanding of distractions; we all have them. We listen to the radio, we change the heat controls to defrost, we talk to our children; all of those are distractions and most of them are not going away whether we are adult drivers or novice drivers. Keeping your attention on driving when you are behind the wheel, is a habit that can be nurtured in young drivers when their parents are observing from the passenger seat. And the ability to monitor distractions both inside and outside of the vehicle, while still maintaining control of the car in a safe manner, is again a mature skill that grows from adequate experience. Mike’s advice to let your teenager drive as much as possible “while you’re there to catch the mistakes” offers the opportunity to reduce crash rates from this causal factor as well as the others cited in this research.

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Teens face the deadliest days of summer driving

Posted on by Jayne Ubl

The 101 Most Deadly Days of Summer!

Deadly Summer accidentDuring the summer months teen driving goes up 44%, which in turn, means that more crashes involving teenagers happen in the 101 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Summer is also the time when most teens sign up for Driver’s Education courses. This is a critical time to make parents aware that they have a crucial role in trying to reduce the teen driving statistics.

As an accident investigator for twenty years Mike Pehl is distressed by the number of avoidable crashes, especially by teens, that he sees each day.

“Fifty percent of all teen drivers crash in the first six months of getting their license and 17 American teens die each day in car crashes. This statistic hasn’t changed in fifty years and I have always wanted to figure out a way to change that statistic.” Says Pehl.

While being a good driver is one thing, teaching someone else to drive is another. Mike is passionate about getting parents to become the primary driving instructor. Behind the Wheel and Driver’s Ed courses only have your son or daughter for 30 hours over a six month period. Mike says teens need to practice their driving skills, just like they practice hockey, basketball or band. A teen should drive at least 30 hours a month for six months prior to getting their license, not 30 hours total.

“If you can’t read the paper in the car while your teen is driving,” says Pehl, “then they aren’t ready to get their license. Don’t punish the rest of us on the road!”

Another problem is with the driver’s test itself. A teen is put through a fifteen minute controlled test … if they pass, they get their license. But due to time constraints, these teens may know how to parallel park, but not how to merge onto a freeway, avoid head-on and t-bone collisions, safely maneuver on a country road, or have the instinct to drive defensively at all times.

These and many other reasons are why Mike produced “Roadworthy: A Parent’s Guide to Teaching Teens to Drive, 12 Lessons to Keep Your Teen Alive Behind the Wheel.” It is his mission to change the horrendous frequency of teen driving fatalities. 17 American teens die every day in car crashes and 77% of those are due to inexperience. Mike wants to change these statistics, one teen at a time. What makes this DVD different from other teen driver videos is that it does not teach the teens to drive; it teaches PARENTS how to teach their teen to drive.

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