Distracted driving big threat to teens
Memorial Day isn't just the unofficial start of summer.
AAA says the holiday is also the start of a darker period: the “100 Deadliest Days” for teenage drivers where speeding, distraction and impaired driving cause highway death rates to spike.
According to AAA, over the past five years, nearly 3,500 people have been killed in crashes involving teen drivers nationwide during the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when the number of crash fatalities involving a teen driver historically rise.
New crash data from 2013-17 reveals major factors contributing to fatal teen crashes during the summer driving period include:
Speeding (28 percent)
Impaired driving (17 percent)
Distraction (9 percent)
“At AAA we are looked at as a towing company,” said Jim Garrity, public and legislative affairs manager for AAA East Central that covers 87 AAA offices in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
“But we are also road safety advocates. And we see providing information to parents and teens as a safety issue,” said Garrity.
Last year, Butler County was fortunate, according to data compiled by Sgt. John Herold of the Pennsylvania State Police Troop D barracks in Butler.
“In that time frame (Memorial Day to Labor Day 2018) we had zero fatalities,” said Herold. “We had seven fatalities all year. One was a 19-year-old. The next youngest was 27.”
“That was pretty good for us right here,” he said.
Herold added, “We do put out a lot of troopers on overtime on holidays to try to curb aggressive driving.”
Still, not all areas can be as fortunate as Butler County was in 2018.
“Motor vehicle crashes are the leading causes of death for teenagers every year, and their risk increases every summer,” said Theresa Podguski, director of legislative affairs for AAA East Central. “Efforts to improve the skills of teen drivers help to keep all drivers safe, so parents should monitor the driving behaviors of their children.”
And improved skills would benefit drivers of all ages because AAA Foundation research found that nearly two-thirds of people injured or killed in a crash involving a teen driver are people other than the teen behind the wheel.Crashes for teen drivers increase significantly during the summer because teens are out of school and driving more.Over the past five years during the “100 Deadliest Days”:An average of almost 700 people died each year in crashes involving teen driversThe average number of deaths from crashes involving teen drivers ages 15 to18 was 17 percent higher per day compared to other days of the year.Reckless behavior such as drinking and driving, speeding and distraction are contributing to the alarming number of crash deaths involving teen drivers each summer.Speeding significantly increases the severity of a crash and is a growing problem among teen drivers.In the AAA Foundation's latest Traffic Safety Culture Index, half (49.7 percent) of teen drivers reported speeding on a residential street in the past 30 days and nearly 40 percent say they sped on the freeway.Another contributing fact is, despite the fact teens cannot legally consume alcohol, one in six teen drivers involved in fatal crashes during the summer tested positive for alcohol.And more than half of teen drivers (52 percent) in the AAA Foundation's latest Traffic Culture Safety Index report reading a text message or email while driving in the past 30 days and nearly 40 percent report sending a text or email.And though the new crash data indicate distraction was a factor in 9 percent of teen-related fatal crashes, that may not tell the whole story. Additional AAA Foundation research using in-vehicle dash-cam videos of teen driver crashes found distraction was involved in 58 percent of teen crashes, about four times as many as federal estimates.
“Although distraction appears to account for a small official percentage of crash factors, it is a truly underreported occurrence,” said Podguski. “It is difficult for law enforcement to detect distraction following a crash, and often times offenders aren't forthcoming about using their phone while driving.”Teens preparing for the responsibility of driving should enroll in a driver education program that teaches how to avoid driver distraction and other safety skills, AAA recommends.Many high schools still have driver's education classes as electives, but heavy insurance premiums have forced many high schools to avoid on-the-road lessons.Dave Mayer, a driver's education teacher for 21 years at Mars High School, said, “We offer 30 hours of class instruction. We do not take on-the-road instruction. The insurance rates are astronomical. I truly wish we were able to offer it.” Mayer said in the classroom, he covers rules of the road, signs and insurance requirements. He also covers the subjects of speeding, distracted and impaired driving.“We have a thing in class where I ask them to bring in an article on traffic accidents. Ninety-six percent of accidents are caused by human error. It's not that a tire blows out. They are speeding, they are distracted. Distracted driving is directly tied to cell phone use.”If they successfully complete the class, the students get a certificate. “Most insurance companies require six hours of instruction from a certified instructor as well,” said Mayer.AAA East Central has launched a campaign to help bring awareness to the dangers of distracted driving. The “Don't Drive Intexticated” campaign aims to help make distracted driving socially unacceptable, much like driving impaired. Given that the results can be equally as deadly, teen drivers should consider them equally as dangerous.Parents play a vital role in keeping their teens safe. AAA encourages parents to:n Talk with teens early and often about abstaining from dangerous behavior behind the wheel, such as speeding, impairment and distracted drivingn Teach by example and minimize risky behavior when driving.Parents also can make a parent-teen driving agreement that sets family rules for teen drivers.Garrity said, “That's why a parent-teen agreement is so important. Their own parents need to talk to teens about the dangers and what habits to avoid.”TeenDriving.AAA.com has a variety of tools to help prepare parents and teens for the dangerous summer driving season.The online AAA StartSmart program also offers great resources for parents on how to become effective in-car coaches as well as advice on how to manage their teen's overall driving privileges.
