Special Report: The Dangers of Teen Driving (page 2 of 5)

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PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEVIN IRBY
More than 5,000 teenagers die in car accidents every year.
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SOURCE: NHTSA (2006)
DANGER AFTER DARK: Nearly half of teen crash deaths happen at night.
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SOURCE: IIHS
Crashes per million miles driven in 2006

16: A RISKY AGE
The crash rate for 16-year-olds is nearly double the rate for 19-year-olds.
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Teen Crash Death Statistics
SOURCE: NHTSA (2006)
DANGER AFTER DARK: Nearly half of teen crash deaths happen at night.
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1. TEACH YOUR KIDS
Part of the reason for teens' poor judgment is hardwired: The brain's prefrontal cortex-which handles tasks like controlling impulses-isn't fully formed. “Our brains get tons of input from multiple places,” says Flaura Winston, MD, scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. “Adults don't act on all those impulses; we sort them. But teens have a hard time doing this.” And they have a hard time understanding what's risky in a car. In a recent study, researchers surveyed 5,600 teens and found huge gaps in their knowledge.

One problem is that teens fail to see certain behaviors as dangerous. Only 28 percent said using a cell phone is a risk, and 10 percent said the same about having other teens in the car. (They're both big distractions, and boys in the car are more distracting than girls.) Only half cited speeding or not wearing a seat belt. Even if teens got the right idea about a behavior-for instance, 87 percent said drinking and driving is dangerous-they didn't view it as their problem: Only 16 percent said they ever see it happen. (Some might be lying; 25 percent of young drivers killed in crashes had been drinking.)

The message for parents: Spell out the dangers for your kids. It's up to you because only 20 percent of schools offer driver ed today, down from 90 percent in the 1980s. Nason says, “You have a responsibility to make sure your child isn't going to drive into someone else head-on because he's busy chatting on his cell phone and nobody's told him, 'Hang up the phone and drive the car.' ”

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my problem with tough teen driving laws is how come there are plenty of laws for "protecting teens" but few tought laws for adults? After all, I come from a small town in Oklahoma and I have rarely seen teens drive badly at our local Walmart but have seen plenty of moronic adults drive like maniancs and yet it seems like teens are the only bad drivers in the world. Also I have a big issue with the phrase "teens aren't automatically good drivers at age 16" because they also aren't bad either.

By dabomb62, on 04/20/2009
I lost my 16 year old daughter in a car accident in 2002. She had her license 3 months. She was speeding and not wearing her seatbelt. We were diligent parents, we wore our seatbelts, went the speed limits, talked about how important it was. We didn't know she didn't wear her seatbelt or drove fast when we weren't in the car. We couldn't be with her 24 hours a day. We need tougher laws for teen drivers. Losing a child is the worst, you never get over it. www.mylittlehoneybee.org

By slwendt, on 09/13/2008
I lost my 16 year old daughter in a car accident in 2002. She had her license 3 months. She was speeding and not wearing her seat belt. I was a diligent parent. We wore our seat belts, went the speed limits, talked about it. But I didn't see her out driving without me in the car to know that she liked to speed and not wear her seat belt. It is impossible for a parent to be with their child 24 hours a day. Because of that, we need tougher laws on teen driving. My heart will forever be broken.

By slwendt, on 09/13/2008
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