Distracted Driving Risks in Teens

In a recent article published by The Washington Post, studies showed 58% of teens involved in motor vehicle collisions are from a mere distraction. According to the studies, there was an analysis of 1,700 videos viewed by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The president of the foundation explained having access to these videos allowed them to see in depth, unquestionable proof, that teens are distracted at a much greater percentage of crashes than previous studies assumed. 15% of the crashes were caused by interaction with a passenger, 12% were related to use of a cellphone; other indications were due to the drivers singing and moving to music or simply distracted by something outside or looking for an object in the car. Other studies found that calling, texting or other mobile-device use distracted teen drivers for an average of 4.1 seconds in the final six seconds before a crash impact. Teens involved in rear-end collisions, more than half the time they crash without braking or attempting to steer to avoid the collision.

Teen drivers have the highest crash and auto insurance rates in the nation. Federal data shows that in 2013, about 963,000 drivers between the ages 16 and 19 were involved in crashes, of those crashes 383,000 caused injuries and 2,865 resulted with fatalities.