The day has come where your child has earned their driver’s license. We realize that we referred to your child’s milestone as being earned, and it’s because we believe driving is a privilege. When anyone gets behind the wheel, they not only have a responsibility to be a safe driver, but they have a responsibility to keep anyone in their car safe, as well as other drivers on the road. As an adult, it may be second nature, or common sense that this is how seriously driving should be taken, but it’s important that you relay this understanding to your new driver as well. Here at Spencer Calahan Injury Lawyers, we want to share with you the realities that teen drivers face, and how it can end in personal injury, or even worse, death. Here are some statistics to help bring to light the dangers of driving for your teen.
According to the Center For Disease Control:
- 2,163 teens between the ages of 16 and 19 were killed in the United States in 2013.
- 243,243 teens were treated in emergency rooms as a result of injury due to an auto accident.
- What does this mean? It means that in the year 2013, six teens died everyday in car crashes.
- People that are between 15-24 years of age only represent 14% of the U.S. population, but represent 30% of costs from motor vehicle injuries.
- How does this affect you? As a parent of a teen driver, this means more than high insurance rates. It means an increased chance for being involved in a personal injury lawsuit on account of teen driving negligence. It also means an increased risk of death.
Why Is This?
- Teens are less likely to properly determine whether or not a situation is hazardous or not.
- Teens are more likely to speed and follow too closely behind other drivers.
- Teens have the lowest rate of seatbelt use. In 2013, only 55% of teens reported always wearing their seatbelt.
- 71% of fatal accidents occurred because of drinking and driving among teens, ages 15 to 20.
What Can You Do?
- Get real with them. Of the teens in 2013 that died in an auto accident, 56% of them were not wearing their seatbelts. Talk to your teen about using this important safety feature.
- Be harsh on them – Explain to them the realities of drinking and driving. Not only does driving pose a risk to them as young and inexperienced drivers, but that risk is severely increased when alcohol is added to the mix.
- Explain the possible consequences – Death is an obvious consequence of drinking and driving, not wearing your seatbelt, or driving recklessly. But explain to them the lifelong consequences they could face. Causing injury to another driver and their passengers will cause them to hire an accident attorney, which could mean a lifetime of debt.
When it comes to keeping your teen driver safe, it’s important that you inform them of the realities that they face when driving. If your teen has already fallen victim to a negligent driver that they were driving with, contact the personal injury attorneys at Spencer Calahan Injury Lawyers in Baton Rouge.
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