Category Archive: Safe Driving

Graduated Driver License Calculator

April 6, 2014

Graduated Driver License Laws (GDL) were created so that teen drivers can gain the driving experience they need to survive a crash. Laws that limit the hours they drive and the number of passengers they can carry have proven to be life savers.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety created this calculator to show which states have the strongest laws for protecting teen drivers. By plugging in your state, you can see what GDL laws are in place and how they stack up to the states with the strongest laws. Read more: GDL crash reduction calculator

Another Reason To Keep Teen Boys And Girls Separate

April 6, 2014

A study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health shows that, teen boys and girls act differently when a member of the opposite sex is in the car vs. riding with peers of the same sex. No surprise there! However, the types of behaviors they engage in can increase their chances for a crash. Read more: How Gender Affects the Behavior of Teen Drivers

Teen don't comprehend dangerous driving messages

Teens Don’t Fully Comprehend The Message On Driving Safety

March 25, 2014

A new survey conducted by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) was recently published showing that, while teens are getting the message on dangerous driving behaviors, they don’t fully comprehend its meaning and continue to engage in dangerous driving behaviors.

Driving Under the Influence

When asked about the dangers of driving under the influence, teens responded as follows:

86% considered driving under the influence of alcohol to be extremely distracting
5% admitted to sometimes driving under the influence
1% considered it acceptable to drive under the influence

In spite of the above answers, when asked about their own driving behavior:

10% who said they never drove under the influence admitted to sometimes driving after consuming an alcoholic drink.
68% of teens who admitted to driving under the influence admitted to driving after consuming three or more drinks.

Your Driving School Instructor Was Mistaken

March 17, 2014

Your driving school instructor may have been mistaken. Holding the steering wheel at the 10:00 and 2:00 position was best for pre-airbag cars without power steering but times have changed. With airbags, you are safer holding the wheel at 9:00 and 3:00 or lower.

Teens Most Likely To Crash In Their First Month Of Solo Driving

August 16, 2012

A study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that teen drivers are fifty percent more likely to crash in their first month of solo driving than they are after a year of driving experience on their own.

The researchers used in-car cameras to follow new North Carolina drivers during the last six months of instruction with their parents in the car and their first six months driving alone. The research showed that, in the first month of solo driving almost sixty percent of the crashes were caused by:

failure to reduce speed,
inattention, and
failure to yield.

They also found that certain types of crashes or near crashes occurred at relatively high rates at first and then declined as the driver gained more experience; for example, crashes involving left hand turns that quickly diminished reflecting the teen’s inexperience followed by rapid learning. The study pointed out driving abilities that parents need to place more emphasis on and to provide more instruction to their teens.

The cameras followed the teens during their typical day-to-day driving and captured some close calls due to texting, driving distractions and running red lights. The AAA foundation for Highway safety posted some of the videos online and they can be seen at: http://www.aaafoundation.org/multimedia/index.cfm?button=UnsupervisedDrivingclips

Some of the videos are quite revealing about the teens’ attitude toward some of the mistakes they made. The study also shows the importance of Graduated Drivers Licensing Laws (GDL) in reducing teen deaths on the highway. If you are unfamiliar with your state’s GDL laws, you should visit your state’s DMV website or get a copy of your state’s driving manual. If the GDL laws in your state are not as strong as in other states, you can enforce your own GDL laws on your teen. Studies show that parental involvement in a teen’s driving goes a long way toward preventing crashes.