Personal Injury Blog

Survey Confirms Teen Drivers Have Increased Accident Risks from Distracted Driving

August 17th, 2011
Teenager distracted driving

Teenage drivers are more prone to have accidents caused by distracted driving.

It has been no secret to Los Angeles car accident attorneys that teen drivers have increased accident risks and they are caused by distracted driving or cell phone use while driving.  A new survey only confirms this fact.

The survey was conducted by the Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and a group called Students against Destructive Decisions.  The researchers analyzed approximately 826 teenagers who were involved in near crash incidents in 2010-2011.  All the motorists in these cases admitted that they had been distracted while driving.

Out of these, 86% of the teenagers said that they had been talking while the near-crash incident occurred.  61% had been changing songs, and 47% were distracted by three or more passengers in the car while they were driving.  46% had been driving at excessive speeds and 36% had been talking on cell phones while driving.  Teenagers who were texting while driving accounted for 36 percent of the near-crash incidents.

The survey also indicated that such near-crash incidents had different effects on different drivers.  Not all drivers were likely to say that they learned a lesson after the near-crash incident, and change their practices.  60% of the young women in the survey said that they changed their driving behavior after the incident, compared to just 52% for young men.

Young female drivers were also much more likely to learn lessons after a crash.  Out of those young drivers who were involved in a crash, 79% female drivers said that they changed their behavior after the crash, but the rate of young men who said that they change their behavior post a crash, was just 58%.

The survey also confirmed what Los Angeles car accident attorneys fear- teenagers drive much more in summer, and may be at a much higher risk of accidents.  According to the survey, teenagers drive approximately 44% more hours during summer.  Teenagers spend an average of 23.6 hours behind the wheel every week during summer.  During school days, teenagers spend 16.4 hours behind the wheel during summer.

What’s worse is that teenagers seem to have no appreciation of the risks that they face during summer.  Only 7% of the teenagers in the survey said that they knew about the increased accident risks facing them during summer.  However, teenagers are also more likely to admit that they have engaged in destructive driving behaviors like speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and distracted driving during summer.

Preventing teen driver-related accidents is not something that can be left exclusively to law enforcement officers.  Parents need to get more involved with developing the right kind of driving practices in their children, by setting the right example and by discussing safe driving with their children.

 

 

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