Children and teens are just getting out of school, some with brand new drivers licenses in hand, which make summer months especially dangerous for teens on the road. The beginning of summer is when our nation’s teens are out celebrating the end of the school year, graduations, proms, parties and other events. With the increased traffic on the road due to summer travel, this makes our young drivers especially vulnerable. For these reasons, May has been designated as Global Youth Traffic Safety Month.
The summer months are a particularly dangerous time for teens on the road. Organizations like the National Safety Council and the National Organizations for Youth Safety urge parents to take an active role in teaching their teens good driving habits and spend time in the car practicing with them to increase their driving experience. The National Organizations for Youth Safety recently hosted a Twitter Chat to bring teens, parents and partner organizations together to start a conversation about youth traffic safety and how to improve safety for teens on the road.
Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for teens including pedestrians and bicyclists. Distracted driving and even distracted walking can be caused by electronic devices, talking, eating, cell phones, alcohol, grooming, and anything else that takes eyes off the road. Distractions like these are the main causes of teen traffic accidents. Each year more than a half a million teens are injured due to distracted driving.
Organizations are focused on engaging teens to help improve the statistics that show that as many as 25% of car crashes involve a teen driver who is under the influence of alcohol, that 60% of 15-20 year old passengers who died in motor vehicle crash were not wearing their seatbelts, that teen drivers have the highest proportion of distraction-related crashes, and that in the last five years, pedestrian injuries among teens have increased by 25% due to distractions like mobile devices. These tragic statistics need to improve and it is the mission of these organizations to reduce the number of teen injuries and deaths caused by highway crashes.
It’s important to note that good habits start at home and parents must instill good driving habits in their children. Parents need to teach kids to always buckle up and follow the rules of the road. Parents who want to produce teens with good driving habits need to put their cell phones down and lead by example when driving. Global Youth Traffic Safety Month in May is an opportunity for us all, parents, teens and the federal agencies who serve youth, to focus on youth driving safety and fight back against a serious epidemic that is endangering our youth. If you need effective legal counsel you can trust, call us at 1.877.732.2491 or fill out the free consultation form in the sidebar to request a free review of your case.