Teens Who Drive Themselves to School Could be At-Risk of Accidents
Your newly licensed teen driver is likely anxious to drive to school alone. While driving to school is a rite of passage for most teen drivers, it does present some very real dangers to your teen and other users of the road. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for teens across the nation. In the year 2013, over 2,000 teens were killed and another 240,000 seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents. This equates to the deaths of six teens every day due to car accidents.
At Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, our Atlanta auto accident attorneys understand the dangers faced by teen drivers and the hazards teen drivers can present to the public. Our car accident attorneys want to see all teen drivers travel safely to and from school, but we also know that some teens need additional experience and monitoring before they can safely do so.
Make Sure Your Teen is Ready
Not all teen drivers are alike. Those teens that have adequate experience and drive in a responsible manner might be ready to drive themselves to school as soon as they are legally allowed. Other teens, however, will need some additional time to gain experience and maturity before it is safer for them to allow them to operate a motor vehicle on their own. Determining which category of teen driver your child falls under is not always easy and should require your honest assessment, along with numerous supervised rides with your child.
Statistically, male teens are most at-risk of accidents. The death rate for male drivers and passengers is twice than that of females. Accordingly, those with a male teen should use extra caution in light of these statistics. You might wish to enact a graduated system, wherein your teen starts by driving you to school in the mornings for several weeks and on the way home. When you feel confident in his abilities, you could start to phase in some alone driving time.
Parents are advised further to keep teen passengers out of the car. Studies show that the risk of a crash increases dramatically when new teen drivers are carrying teen passengers. Whether due to distraction or peer pressure, the presence of passengers has a negative effect on the teen driver. As such, parents should not allow newly minted teen drivers to bring their friends to school for some time. In fact, it is illegal in Georgia for a new teenage driver to allow passengers who are not family members in the vehicle for the first six months. With proper precautions, teen drivers can enjoy the freedom of driving to school, but not place themselves at undue risk of accidents.
Call Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, Today for Your Free Consultation!
If your teen driver has been injured in an accident, you need knowledgeable counsel to represent his or her interests. The Atlanta Auto Accident Attorneys at Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, represent accident victims across Georgia and in the Southeast. Our firm has over 39 years of experience and is committed to providing zealous representation to each injured client. The sooner you act after your accident, the greater your chances of obtaining a full recovery. As such, it is important that you seek the assistance of a licensed lawyer as soon as possible.
Call Montlick & Associates, Attorneys at Law, 24 hours a day/7 days a week for your Free Consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333). You can also visit us online at www.montlick.com and use our Free Case Evaluation Form or 24-hour Live Online Chat.
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html