Help Prevent Teen Car Crashes During Prom-Graduation Season

Heightened Awareness of Risks for Teen Drivers During Spring Event Season

It’s that time again of the year for prom and upcoming graduation parties! These are benchmarks of progression toward adulthood and responsibility. Another important benchmark for many teens is getting their driver’s license and beginning a lifetime of driving. Driving a car can be one of the most dangerous activities in which we participate and we each often forget the level of responsibility it requires.

Likewise, parents often spend many hours worrying about their teen drivers due to their inexperience and the behaviors of other drivers.

Combine inexperienced drivers (by age 18, one still has limited time behind the wheel) with distracted, reckless or impaired driving and you have a recipe for a car crash. Teen traffic fatalities increase in spring and specifically during prom season. See “Beware of the 100 Deadliest Days for Teen Drivers”

Driving a Car–Responsibility for Life

As teens take on many new responsibilities in the process of becoming adults, driving is usually a big indicator of independence and progression toward adulthood. It’s a rite of passage for many teens and a often a stressful one for parents.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drunk driving fatalities in people under the age of 21, per population of 100,000 people, has decreased by 49 percent. In 1982, when the statistics first started being collected, fatal crashes involving drivers under the age of 21 was at a record high of 80 percent or 5,215 teens compared to 10 percent or 1,021 teens in 2015.

While the numbers are moving in a more safe direction, it is by no means a solved problem. According to the CDC, every single day, six teens die in a car accidents. In almost all of these fatal crashes, the true horror is that most are preventable.

Teen Crash Prevention

According to the CDC, the first year after receiving a license is the most dangerous year in a person’s driving career. This makes sense as young drivers are less experienced. It is also a time when a young driver may add risks to an already risky situation while engaging in dangerous behaviors such as distracted driving, impaired driving, or speeding.

As parents, we have to look at what we can do to help our teens avoid the below risks:

Impaired Driving

• Drunk, impaired or drowsy driving. Parents, teach your teen to always be well-rested before they drive anywhere and never let them drive if you see they are fatigued. Learn all you can about impaired driving and teens and teach by example by never drinking and driving.

Distracted Driving

Texting, eating, drinking, music and passenger distractions. Parents can set up rules for limiting the number of passengers in their teen’s car. Follow the local teen laws or restrict your child to have one or no passengers at all.

• Lead by example. Distracted driving through the use of a handheld phones continue to be leading cause for teen’s driving distraction and distraction for all drivers. As a parent, be sure you are not texting or on social media while you drive and strictly forbid this behavior for your teen.

Reckless Driving

• Includes speeding, lack of seatbelt, crossing lanes and not driving according to road conditions. As a parent,
  • Be sure your teen is mature enough to adhere to speed limits and follow the rules of the road.
  • Be sure your teen knows that “racing” of any kind is dangerous and not tolerated.
  • Lead by example and follow the rules of the road yourself.
  • Spend time teaching your teen how to drive. Spend time teaching them when and how to appropriately change lanes, keep a safe following distance and prepare them for unexpected braking. Parents may spend many, many months driving with their teen for varying lengths of time in order to expose them to many different scenarios.
  • Insist on seat belt usage. Seatbelt usage in Missouri is still quite below the national average. Not only is it the law, but seatbelts save lives.

Inexperienced Driving

Not having enough time on the road can be a common problem for younger drivers. As a parent, not only are you just riding around with your teen but you are monitoring their progress and making sure they have a variety of safe driving experiences.

• Practice on varying types of roads and conditions are important. As well, various road conditions need to be encountered in the day and night hours.
• Time. Experts say the minimum time for a new driver to have practice assisted time is 30-50 hours over the course of six months. Some parts of the country allow for more practice driving opposed to busy metropolitan traffic.
• Teaching. Parents need to constantly remind teens to stay focused on the road and signs, to be alert for potential dangers, other motorists, and train crossings.

Parent-Teen Contract or Agreement

Some experts advocated for a parent-teen contract to be certain your teen understands their driving limits and expectations. Rules are easier to follow when we know the rules upfront. Several organizations offer resources to help you start the parent-teen driving agreement:

CDC Parent-Teen Driving Agreement– Center for Disease Control

New Driver Deal– Offered by the National Safety Council, the GM Foundation, The National Road Safety Foundation and Volkswagen.

SAAD Contract for Life– Provided by the Students Against Destructive Decisions

Prepare Teens for the Possibility of a Motor Vehicle Crash

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