According to a recent study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety called “100 Deadliest Days”, the period between Memorial Day and Labor day is the deadliest time for teenagers who get behind the wheel, but also for those that they come into contact with.
The study is based on extensive data, consisting of police reports of car accidents that involved drivers with ages between 15 and 19, from 1994 all the way to 2013, in order to observe the pattens the have formed along the time.
And it seems that people with ages outside the teenage outline are the ones who have to suffer the most at cause of teenage reckless driving, with 66% people killed and 67% of people injured in car accidents that involve a teen driver.
These people who got injured were either inside the car with the teenagers (17%) or in another vehicle (50%) at the time of the accident. Only 2% were not inside any type of vehicle, including pedestrians or bicyclists.
This proves just how dangerous teen drivers are for themselves and for the people around them. The reason why the study was named “100 Deadliest Days” is because during the months of June, July and August, the vast majority of teens are on summer holiday and therefore have a exponentially more time on their hands then in any other month of the year.
Therefore, it becomes somewhat of a dangerous time to be driving or simply find yourself on the street, as you never know when a teenage driver might involve you in a serious accident. This is what the study basically suggests.
It is crucial that parents give some valuable advice to their driving teens. Firstly, it is crucial that they pot their seat belt on, as this is one of the most important safety measures that needs to be taken into consideration when behind the wheel.
Secondly, it should be made clear that driving is a very serious activity and that all attention should be allocated to this alone. This means that mobile phones and headphones need to be put aside while driving.
For example, texting and driving is extremely dangerous for both the divers and the people they come into contact with. It is actually even more dangerous than talking on the phone while driving.
Another extremely dangerous habit that teens partake in is taking selfies while behind the wheel and its popularity can be asserted by the multitude of these pictures on Facebook and Instagram.
Also, something that is extremely attractive to teenage divers but proves to be dangerous is taking group rides with their friends. It is very dangerous for a beginner driver to be surrounded by people who can can easily distract their attention at the most inappropriate times.
These are dangerous activities even for experienced drivers, but they can prove to be fatal to teenage drivers, who are beginners. Therefore, they should regard their time behind the wheel as something that requires concentration and focus. This would be of great significance in the outcome of the summer madness drivers.
Since the “100 Deadliest Days” have just begun, a little bit of concentration and self discipline might be the best things that teenage drivers can do in order to minimize this year’s casualties.
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