Articles Posted in Young Drivers

Teens often enjoy the freedom of commuting to school and most parents support the idea. However a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggests that teen commutes may contribute to Florida car accidents and accidents across the country. Researchers at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety collected data on accidents between 2001 and 2004 and found that there was an increase in car accident rates during school commutes in the afternoon and morning. As well, researchers found that about 30% of car accidents involving drivers between 16 and 17 years old occurred during school commute times.

According to researchers, many evening car accidents involving teen drivers take place due to drinking and driving or speeding, but this is not the case with school commute time accidents. Instead, researchers concluded that distraction and fatigue are the contributing causes in these accidents.

According to Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), there are several things that can be done to help prevent Florida pedestrian accidents and traffic accidents during school rush hours:

1) Let your teen know about the dangers. Teen drivers may assume that commute drives are safer because they do not take place at night. Share statistics about school commute accident rates and encourage your teen drivers to stay extra alert.

2) Do not let your teen drive tired. Have your teen agree to drive only if they have gotten eight hours or more of sleep a night. Offer a ride if your teen has been staying up late or is under stress due to exams or school work.

3) Encourage your teen drivers to stay out of cars where other teen drivers display unsafe driver behavior. Teens often commute together and sometimes take turns carpooling. However, teens may also feel peer pressure not to speak up if a driver is driving distracted or tired.

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Driver training and licensing are meant to ensure that all new Florida drivers have the basic skills needed to safely operate a car. Despite this, young drivers and new drivers do have a higher accident rate. Partly, this is because even the most advanced Florida driving schools and training classes simply cannot cover all the possible elements of driving safely. Most schools do not carefully instruct drivers about driving in bad weather, night driving, and other necessary driving skills. There is simply no time. As well, even the best Florida driving instruction classes do not make up for practice, which is really what is needed to improve your driving skills.

If you are a new driver – whether you are 16 or 60 – you can help prevent Florida car accidents by exercising some additional precautions for the first 3-6 months after you get your license:

1) Get additional training. The driver’s training you take to obtain your license is usually very rudimentary. Additional training with a qualified instructor can help you hone your skills and can help you stay more confident behind the wheel. Defensive training, additional in-car sessions, and even racing schools are excellent investments that can help you avoid accidents and injuries.

For many Florida teens, a driver’s license is a rite of passage. Even with graduated licensing, getting a Florida driving license involves getting a permit and getting basic training behind the wheel. While teens have to pass a road test to get their driver’s license, most newly-licensed teens do not have the extensive experience needed to stay truly safe on the roads. As well, many teen drivers may be at risk because they are easily swayed by peer pressure and because some teens overestimate their driving skills.

Although teens account for only 7% of all drivers, nearly 14% of fatal car accidents involve teen drivers. Male teens under 24 years of age have a an auto-related death rate that is 2.5 times the national average. For teens ages 15-19, car accidents are the leading cause of death. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 4, 877 teens were killed in 2000 alone as a result of preventable car accidents. Many more sustained serious injuries as a result of accidents. According to the NHTSA, 36% of teens involved in car accidents in 2000 were drinking and 58% were speeding when a collision took place. In addition to causing injuries to teen drivers, car accidents involving teen drivers also cause serious injuries to innocent motorists and bystanders. Many Florida head injuries, spinal cord injuries and other serious injuries are caused by teen drivers each year.

Researcher Dr. Dennis Doverspike has studied teen drivers and risk-taking attitudes among teens at the University of Akron and has concluded that it can take years for driving skills to develop and most teens simply do not have those years of on-the-road experience it takes for driving to become automatic. As well, Dr. Doverspike notes that no states require teens to demonstrate a proficiency in high-speed traffic or different weather conditions before getting a license.

According to Allstate, May, June, July, and August are the deadliest months for teen drivers, with the majority of teen car accidents taking place during these months. Each year, according to statistics, about 5,000 teen drivers die on the roads. In addition, many more Florida young drivers are seriously hurt or cause serious Florida pedestrian accidents or bicycle accidents on the roads. Even with graduated licensing programs, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims can reduce car accidents by 20-50%, teens are still at risk for motor vehicle accidents, especially at this time of year.

According to experts, there are many things that parents can do to help their children drive safely this summer:

1) Remind your child to use a seat belt each time they drive. Many Florida brain injuries sustained in car accidents take place because a passenger or driver failed to wear a seat belt. It takes only a few seconds to buckle up, but it can prevent your teen from flying through a windshield in the event of an accident.

In Florida, as in most of the country, teens need to be 16 years old and properly licensed to operate a motor vehicle. Despite this, some parents allow their underage and unlicensed children to drive a car. In some cases, children simply take their parents’ car without permission. Unfortunately, some driving video games give children the impression that they can drive. If these underage drivers cause a traffic accident, the resulting legal actions can be quite complex because in many cases it is the parents who are held liable for their children’s behavior.

While there are not very many Florida car accidents caused by underage drivers, underage driving is a concern. Unlicensed minors do not have the training or knowledge to operate a car and are therefore far more likely to cause car accidents, pedestrian accidents, and other traffic problems. In most cases, children under the age of 16 who are caught by police behind the wheel of a car are not driving correctly, which is how they are noticed in the first place. In many instances, these children have already caused some property damage or an accident before they are pulled over.

FL Statute 322.35 clearly states that no person can allow their ward or child under the age of 18 to drive their car if the minor is not authorized to do so. The driver’s manual for Florida indicates that allowing an unlicensed person to drive your car can result in a fine or even jail time.

Most Florida parents are happy when their teens eventually get their license. While most parents of course worry about Florida car accident statistics and hope that their child is never in a serious car crash, most parents do not worry about the liability and the legal risks they take on when their teen gets behind the wheel. However, it is true: parents can be held partly responsible for any accident their underage teen driver causes. There are many ways that parents can face a lawsuit:

1) By signing a driver’s license application for your minor driver. In most cases, your signature means that you are liable for the negligent driving – and the accidents it causes – of your teen driver. This liability lasts until the teen’s eighteenth birthday. Some insurance policies cover this liability, but you need to speak to your insurance provider to determine whether your policy covers it. The only way to avoid this liability is to withdraw your support via the Florida department of motor vehicles. You can also wait until your child is 18 before allowing them a license. Otherwise, you are partly liable if your teen is one of the hundreds each year that causes a Florida drunk driving accident or a pedestrian accident.

2) By being the registered owner of the vehicle your teen drives. Many parents buy their teen’s first car or have at least partial ownership. Sometimes, this is done as a gift or to keep insurance costs down. Either way, if your teen driver is under eighteen and you are listed as the owner of their vehicle, you may be held partly liable if your teen’s negligence leads to a car accident in Florida. Even if you are not officially the owner of the car but helped to pay for the car, you could be held liable. If you should have known that your teen was unqualified to drive (because of a drinking problem or a tendency to speed) you might also be liable for considerable punitive damages.

While many young Florida drivers are responsible and safe drivers, young drivers as a whole are more likely to make specific types of driving mistakes which can and do contribute to Florida pedestrian accidents and car accidents:

1) Speeding. Car accidents involving young Florida drivers often include speeding. In 2005, a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health found that teen drivers tend to drive 1.3 mph than drivers of other age groups. Younger drivers sometimes feel invincible or lack the experience to keep track of their speed. As well, many drivers do not yet have the driving skills to deal with sudden obstacles at high speeds, making them more likely to be in a collision when they do exceed the speed limit.

2) Distracted driving. A 2007 survey by State Farm Insurance found that half of teen drivers admitted to talking on their cell phones while driving. A 2006 Virginia Tech survey found that distracted driving contributed to nearly 80% of traffic accidents. Other studies have concluded that texting while driving is as dangerous as drunk driving.

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