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The thought of putting your most precious possession –your teenage child-- behind the steering wheel of a 3,000 plus pound vehicle is terrifying to say the least. Unfortunately, you can’t control the other drivers on the road. Drivers who aren’t as concerned with your child’s safety as you are. According to kidshealth.org, aggressive drivers are considered road hazards, since they cause one third of all traffic accidents. You can reduce the risk of your child being involved in such an accident by teaching them the following defensive driving techniques:
Don’t Text or Talk While Driving:
A big aspect of keeping your child safe on the roadways is teaching them to remain diligent while behind the wheel. This means teaching them to leave their
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Teach your teen to always look ahead of them while in traffic. They also need to look at the cars next to them and behind them. Share with them what to look for in other drivers. Teach them to examine other cars on the road, noticing things like swerving, speeding and drivers who are texting or talking on their phone. Share with them what to do when they notice these things that could become a problem. Tips like slowing down and giving a swerving driver more room is one such tip.
Invest in a Safe Car:
It has been said the best defense is a good offense. Although this is oftentimes a phrase used in reference to sports, it can be applied to driving as well. Get your teen a safe car, with features such as blind spot monitoring. Research cars to learn which have scored the best in terms of safety scores, and choose one of the safer models for your teen to drive.
By teaching your teen defensive driving, you can reduce their risk of getting into an auto accident. Unfortunately, even when they do everything right, they might still end up in an accident. If you or your child were the victims of an auto accident, call us today. You could be entitled to
In this article written by the author Bruce Feiler, titled “Teenage Drivers? Be Very Afraid”, he talks about how he suggest the parents to stop being helicopter parents and allow their children to be independent. However, other professionals’ suggestions are the opposite when teenagers start to drive. As a result of the teenagers’ immaturity, the parents are told to be more involved because their child’s life may be in danger. As stated in the article by Nichole Moris “the most dangerous two years of your life are between 16 and 17, and the reason for that is driving.” There are various factors that play huge roles through this phrase of the teenagers’ life: other passengers, cellphones, and parents. In 2013, under a million teenage drivers were involved in police-reported crashes, according to AAA. The accidents could have been more but many teenage accidents go unreported. As a result, one of their recommendations to the parents is to not allow their children to drive with other passengers: other passengers can big a huge distraction and could increase the rate of crashes by 44 percent. That risk doubles with a second passenger and quadruples with three or more. Furthermore, as technology has taken over teenagers’ lives, the parents should suggest to those teenagers who insists on using the phones that the only safe place for it to be: in a dock, at eye level, on the dashboard. The worst place is the cup holder, the driver’s lap, and the passenger’s seat. Next, professionals also suggest that the parents implement their own rule and even continue the ones like the graduated driver’s licenses regulations. This regulation includes restrictions like not allowing their children to drive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. To
According to national teen driving statistics, 16-year-olds, in particular, are 3 (three) times more likely to die in a crash than the average of all drivers, and they have higher crash rates than any other age group. In 2008; 81% of teenage crash deaths were passenger vehicle occupants, 31% of teenage drivers killed had been drinking alcohol, 55% were not buckled up, and 37% of male teenage drivers involved in fatalities were speeding. Teenagers who drink and drive have a greater risk of serious crashes than older drivers with equal blood alcohol concentrations. Teens do not wear seat/safety belts as much as adults. Teens tend to take more risks due to overconfidence in their abilities. These risks include: speeding, tailgating (driving too close to the vehicle in front), running red lights, violating traffic signals and signs, illegal turns, dangerous passing, and failure to yield to pedestrians.
Just like the teenage boy that died in the wreck, most young teen drivers think they are invincible and are owners of the road which is all due to lack of maturity. The mind set of young drivers now days is “I’m too young to die”, or “it wont happen to me” and they are so blinded by the immature thinking that it gets them in trouble. Some traits generally linked with the immaturity are: chance taking, testing limits, poor-decision making, overconfidence, speeding, following to closely, and dangerous passing (Williams). When you have youthful age and immature characteristics combined the crash possibility is enlarged. The 15-16 age groups are among the most accident prone of most groups (“Don’t”), so why then would we want them behind the wheel? “Most U.S. states license at age 16, but the minimum age for a regular license is 14 in South Dakota and 15 in five other states including: Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and South Carolina”, stated Allan F. Williams. Youthful age and immature thinking is part of the reason wh...
Driving defensively is key to avoiding accidents. This refers to anticipating hazards and being prepared for them, or driving and expecting the worst. When I was practicing my driving, my dad told me, “When you feel like another driver is going to make a bad move, assume that they will.” Just because it’s wrong for that other driver to cut you off doesn’t mean they won’t do it, so always plan for the worst of things. The main takeaways of defensive driving are:
In the 21st century, our nation is facing a major issue, causing teenagers to lose their lives at the hand of the wheel due to inexperienced driving. “Teen drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in an automobile crash,” and statistics show. Automobile accidents are the number one cause of teen deaths. Driving regulations are in high need to be changed in order for teenagers to gain more experience with driving before taking the driving test, which could help save countless adolescence’s lives.
Teens need to be taught that driving is a task that is complex and demanding. Parents know how much experience a young driver has, and they know exactly how inconvenient it is when they have to drive with their teen everywhere while they have their permit. Teens tend to cause most traffic accidents in adults’ eyes. They are not experienced yet, and often fail to pay attention to others on the road. They often think of a car as being some type of toy, but they do not know how powerful it really is. The driver education programs must be strengthened in order to make sure that students really have safer habits, behind the wheel experience, and by having a better understanding of all the laws on the road.
Most if not all teens look forward to several events in their life. One of those events are getting a driver's license. This small piece of plastic is their ticket to freedom. This ticket is more than just freedom to be able to drive their friends around but also freedom from the ritual of their parents having to drive them everywhere and embarrass them in public. Also this is a freedom to the parents as well they may save more on gas from not having to drive their children around. However, some teens are not as safe as they possibly could be if they were to take a few steps to promote good driving habits. This is evident in the article “Teen Driving”, as the author gives the reader teen driving statistics, as well as explanations of programs and steps that can improve teen driving.
Defensive driving can save lives. It can turn a nonchalant call home into a terrifying call home. It is making the choice between stopping at a stop sign or stopping someone’s life. Defensive driving should be a part of everyone’s daily driving routine. If you practice defensive driving you can save yourself time, money, and a lot of headaches. It also benefits you in more ways than one.
Another safety benefit of the self-driving car is the issue of unsafe teen drivers on the roads. In a study conducted by Sheila Sarkar and Marie Andreas, fifty five percent of 1,430 teenage drivers admitted to engaging in risky behaviors while driving (Sarkar 687). The newscast regularly reports about fatal car accidents which involved teen drivers who were racing or driving drunk. In addition, teen drivers are a novice on the road and have a learning curve, this at times can be dangerous. Self-driving cars would not have the learning curve nor would they have the urge to drive unsafe like many teens
Teenagers are getting back on the roads and behind the wheel, meaning the risk of accidents is higher. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15- to 20-year olds. Automakers are creating ways to make their automobiles safer in order to reduce these deaths. Teenage drivers are inexperienced and need the extra protection to keep them safe if an incident were to occur. Automobile safety features are necessary for the teenage driver to stay protected and alert.
This article encourages parents to trust their teenagers with driving. With driving, you can reach many places, which can make you an adult to catch up with the rest, another example that makes you an adult is being able to take care of yourself.
As expected, most if not all teens will disagree with that. But there are some safe teen drivers that are thrown into the bad teen driving category just because they are a teenager that drives. If there are some good teen drivers, then do all teens really need more drivers education? Samantha Williams is a senior at Winchester Community High School that has an answer to this question. “I do consider myself to be a safe driver. I’m always aware of my surroundings when I’m driving, and I always stay away from any distractions” (Question 1). She is intentionally aware of her surroundings and stays focused while driving. The government should not make more regulations and rules for all teen drivers when there are many teen drivers like Samantha on the roads. There are even some adults that believe not all teen drivers are bad drivers. Gregory explains, “ The teen driving issues are not about age and maturity as they are about making good choices and demonstrating exceptional behavior, whether they start that driving experience at 16, 17, or 18” (1). Many teens and parents seem to think the government has not made the best decisions recently when it comes to
Richard Petty once said “You’ll got home safe, so drive safe, and stay safe.” Being a racing legend, he is an advocate for safe driving to minimise the cases of road crushes that have been on the rise. He double up as the chairman of the Veterans’ Safe Driving Initiative, the initiative is aimed at guiding the veterans returning from deployment on safe driving tips. It is necessarily important since the infrastructure has changed over time. Another initiative is being run in Minnesota where the teens are guided on the important safe driving tips. Study shows that more crushes are likely to occur in teen driving than veteran driving. It is also evident that young drivers are more likely to cause a crush within six months of passing the driving test and young male are worse than the females in the field.
Many accidents are caused because teenagers are unaware of driving risks and hazardous situations. One piece of evidence that shows that teenagers need driving experience appears in the following quote, “Teens are more likely than older drivers to underestimate dangerous situations or not be able to recognize hazardous situations,” ("Teen Drivers: Get the Facts"). Teenagers will not have enough driving experience if the driving age is lifted. If teenagers are allowed to drive at sixteen then they will be prepared to drive later on. The longer one waits to drive, the longer it takes for them to become prepared for the risks and hazards of
Most teenagers are excited to get their license so they are able to be with their friends. They believe it is fun to have a car full of friends and drive anywhere and everywhere. However, most teenagers are not aware that three or more teen passengers quadruples a crash risk (National). When others are in the car with a driver it causes a myriad of distractions. Teenagers are subjected to peer-pressure and therefore do not make mature decisions. For example, teenagers wear seat belts less often than older drivers because of peer-pressure (Millward). The seat belt is a restriction so if an accident were to occur the outcome of it will not be as extreme with it on. Wearing a seat belt is also a law and teenagers pressure each other to break that law. The fatality rate for teenagers is 3.6 times higher than driving alone (California). Teenagers are pressured to break laws and do illegal actions while others are in t...