Tag Archive: teen driver
Teens: Celebrate Your Graduation Safely
May 14, 2010
Graduation is finally here! Let me guess, you suddenly feel older, more mature, and ready for anything? You are on your way into the work force or heading off to college. Either way, freedom is within reach and it is time to celebrate! There are so many parties, dinners, and other events, all in you and your peers’ honor. Temptation will surround you. Peer pressure will be high, and the euphoria of the event will be a different pressure. You may think something like, “if I have one drink, it is not a big deal, I deserve to celebrate.” You may hear, “just have one drink, it won’t hurt you.” Before you give into the temptation, know the facts. It could save your life, a friend’s life, or a stranger’s life.
Did you know?
- 40, 000 people die every year in motor vehicle accidents
- 16,000 of those deaths are alcohol or drug related
- Graduation night is one night where impaired driving is most likely
- There is a zero tolerance law for impaired driving under the age of 20
What are possible consequences of impaired driving?
- Death of you, a friend, or stranger
- Serious injury of you, a friend, or stranger
- Loss of scholarships
- Incarceration
- Suspension or Revocation of your driver’s license
- Fines
Think about this before you drink/drug drive. You have a best friend that you have known since you were eight years old. You both are excited about the after graduation party. You drive you and your best friend to the party. You both decide to have a few drinks and you even take a hit off the joint being passed around. After all, it is your night and you have the right to celebrate. That is the last thing you remember and now you are waking up in the hospital. You are seriously injured, but far worse, you find out that your best friend was killed in a car accident on the way home from the party, and you are responsible. Situations like this have happened before and it CAN happen to you? Do you want to wake up in the hospital with serious injuries and someone telling you that you are responsible for the death of your best friend? I doubt it.
What can you do to keep yourself and others safe?
- Don’t drink or take drugs
- If you are impaired, call for a ride (taxi, sober friend or family member, ect.)
- Have a designated driver
- Do not get in a car with anyone who is impaired
- Sleep over
We can’t predict what others may do. So if you are riding with friends, have a plan if they become impaired. Know who you can call, be willing to ask for the keys, and if possible find out if they plan on drinking before going to the party with them. You may need to make alternate arrangements to get to the party.
It is an exciting time and you should celebrate your success. Your success can end in a matter of seconds with one bad decision. True freedom comes with smart decisions. Celebrate your entry into your adult life by making good decisions on your graduation night. Stay safe by staying sober.
Top 3 Most Dangerous Cities for Teen Drivers are in Florida
August 29, 2009
Two studies, one by Allstate Insurance Company and the other by Reader’s Digest, indicate that geography plays a part in teens’ risk of injury and death in motor vehicle crashes. And because of their age group, teens are already at great risk. The number one killer of American teens is motor vehicle crashes; one study shows that the problem is particularly serious in Florida. Every year, over 5,000 people aged 16-20 are killed in motor vehicle collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The ten riskiest cities out of the 50 largest urban areas in the US were selected using statistics from the national Census Bureau, federal crash data, and company claims information on teen passenger vehicle collisions. The most dangerous US cities for teen drivers are Southern, with the top three in Florida. Of the top 50 cities in the country for teen fatality crashes, Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Orlando/Kissimmee, and Jacksonville rank number one, two and three, respectively.
The analysis by Reader’s Digest categorizes states according to their current Graduated Driver’s Licensing (GDL), seat belt, and Driving Under the Influence (DUI) laws. According to the study, Alaska, California and Delaware rank as the top three; three of the worst states include North Dakota, Mississippi and Arkansas. Florida is categorized as “Fair,” the next-to-lowest ranking. Interestingly, California cities also scored high in the Allstate study: San Francisco/Oakland, San Jose, and Los Angeles were numbers one, two, and four.
Factors that contribute to teen motor vehicle crashes include:
- Speeding/driving too fast for conditions -Driver distraction, including cell phone use and dealing with passengers -Inexperience -Driving at night -Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (including prescription and over-the-counter drugs)
- Teens also often neglect to wear their seat belts, increasing the risk of serious injury or death in a crash. An observational study by the Utah Department of Health found that the teen seat belt use rate falls when other high-risk factors are present, such as when teens drive under the influence of alcohol, drive at night, have multiple teen passengers, or are driving without a driver’s license.
The risk factors listed above, including seat belt requirements, are addressed by GDL laws in many states. Before advancing to the next phase of licensure, young drivers must show progress by complying with specific restrictions. Driver education was a part of the curriculum in 90% of US high schools during the 1980s; in 2009, only 20% do. GDL laws are of increasing significance in the effort to reduce teen crash rates, because teens get most of their driver training from their parents and are often subject only to state requirements after licensure.
While a national model for GDL laws has existed since the mid-1990s, no state follows all of the requirements. To show the disparities among states, The National Safety Commission (TNSC) analyzed the GDL laws in four states: California, Florida, Mississippi, and North Dakota.
- The minimum age for a learner’s permit in California is 15 years, six months; the minimum age is 15 in Florida and Mississippi. In North Dakota, the minimum age is 14.
- While California and Florida each require 50 hours of practice driving with a parent or guardian in the learner’s permit stage, 10 hours of which must be at night, neither Mississippi nor North Dakota require parental certification of any driving practice hours.
- North Dakota does not have any passenger or nighttime restrictions, and Florida and Mississippi have only nighttime restrictions. California’s passenger restriction is that for the first 12 months, the restricted driver may have no passengers younger than 20, with limited exceptions for immediate family.
Comprehensive GDL laws reduce deaths among 16-year-old drivers by 38%, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety; the Reader’s Digest study also supported the idea that better GDL laws mean that fewer teens will die in motor vehicle crashes. However, TNSC points out that parents must actively participate in their teens’ driver education by enforcing GDL laws as house rules, rather than leaving the issue to law enforcement. The possibility of legal consequences for teens who don’t abide by their state’s GDL laws should serve as support for parental restrictions, not take the place of them.
Driver Education: How Cough Medicine Affects Driving
July 16, 2009
Many parents who warn their teens repeatedly not to use illegal drugs are unaware of the temptation and risk posed by over-the-counter medications such as cough medicine. But cough medicine provides an inexpensive, easily accessible high to one out of 11 teens, according to the Partnership for a Drug-free America. And teens are often ignorant of or in denial about the risks posed by over-the-counter medicines which, they reason, are safe and legal. A 2008 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study indicated that only 45% of teens think taking cough medicine to get high is hazardous. Teens may not consider that though dextromethorphan (DXM) is safe to take in the recommended 15-to 30-milligram dose, they are likely to consume 360 milligrams or more in the effort to get high.
The effects of overdosing on DXM include:
- Confusion
- Impaired judgment
- Blurred vision
- Slurred speech
- Dizziness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Excessive sweating
- Loss of motor control
- Dissociative (out-of-body) sensations
- Paranoia
- Hallucinations
- Irregular heartbeat
- Loss of consciousness
- Seizures
- Brain damage
- Death
The situation becomes even more dangerous when teens abuse drugs they believe are safe and then get behind the wheel. To make matters worse, many teens who experiment with using cough medicine to get high do so when they are already under the influence of another drug, such as alcohol. This intensifies the effects, and, of course, makes driving riskier.
Information on how to abuse DXM is readily available on the internet and via teens’ friends, so parents must counteract it with information of their own – and with vigilance. Here are some tips for parents:
- Familiarize yourself with the basics of cough medicine abuse. Words to watch for (on your teen’s internet history) and listen for include Dex, DXM, Robo, Robo-ing, Robo- tripping, Skittles, Skittling, Syrup, Triple-C, and Tussin. DXM is found in syrups, lozenges, tablets, capsules, and gel caps labeled DM, cough suppressant, or tuss, or include the word “tuss” in the name.
- Include discussions about the risks of abusing over-the-counter drugs in your regular talks with your teen. Explain the difference between therapeutic dosages and overdosing, as well as the effects. Tell your teen that you want to know whenever they need to take any medication for any reason.
- Lock your medicine cabinet or keep medicines that contain DXM in a location that isn’t accessible to your teen. Keep track of how much medicine is in each container. Avoid buying multiples of medicines that contain DXM; doing so can be tempting to teens, and also makes it more difficult for you to keep track of the total amount of medicine in your household.
- Observe your teen, your teen’s bedroom and bathroom, and recreational areas carefully for medicinal smells and empty cough medicine containers.
Driver Education: Traffic Safety for New High School Graduates
June 5, 2009
Summer is here and school is out. Many young drivers will be spending more time on the road going to the beach or pool, working at summer jobs, and having fun with friends. This is an especially exciting time for teens who are 2009 high school graduates. Recent grads are filled with elation, a sense of freedom, and hopes and dreams for the future. But euphoria and increased independence can cause problems when they lead relatively inexperienced drivers to take chances behind the wheel. And summertime is a dangerous time for drivers in general; traffic deaths for all drivers increase during the warm-weather months, peaking in July.
Three deadly holidays take place during the summer – Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, in a 2004 analysis of six holiday periods, the average number of traffic deaths during holiday periods was 156 per day, compared to 117 per day on non-holidays. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 20 of the 25 deadliest days on US roads over a five-year time frame fell during the period from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.
Teen motor vehicle fatalities are also highest in the summer, partly because it’s an unsafe time for all drivers, but also due to risk factors specific to young drivers. Like other drivers, teens spend more time on the road during the summer (averaging 44% more hours driving each week, according to the NHTSA) and are more likely to drive at night. But they lack the experience of older drivers in dealing with heavy traffic and low-visibility conditions. Like other drivers, teens behind the wheel in the summer are often accompanied by multiple passengers. But teens are often much more distracted by their passengers than older drivers, and they are unlikely to assert themselves even when they are aware that they need to concentrate on driving.
Parents who want their teens to survive the summer must stay involved in their teens’ driving activities. Without close supervision, the vast majority of teens lack the emotional maturity to stay safe behind the wheel – or as passengers of other teen drivers.
-Though most parents will broaden driving privileges for summer, avoid giving teens too many privileges at once. Extend privileges one at a time and make sure teens prove they can handle the increased responsibility before adding more.
-Conduct supplementary driver training lessons. For example, many teens have limited experience with night driving during the school year; a few lessons will help them learn good nighttime driving habits from the beginning. A teen driving checklist helps parents provide valuable feedback on the driving lesson.
-A driver training course will help teens review fundamental driving concepts during a time when they are most at risk. A quick safe-driving refresher could help an inexperienced young driver make the right choice in an emergency. Parents whose teens receive even one traffic ticket must address the issue immediately; tickets mean teens are probably engaging in more risky driving behaviors than parents realize.
-Parents should check up on their teens’ seat belt use as often as possible. In 2006, the NHTSA reported that 58% of 16- to 20-year olds who were involved in fatal motor vehicle collisions were not wearing seat belts. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that teen seat belt use increases over time when strict parental limits are set.
-A heightened level of awareness about their teens’ access to alcohol, particularly on holidays, is critical for concerned parents. Teens may even have access to alcohol via their friends’ parents; ensure that teens understand that underage drinking is never acceptable, no matter what any other parent says or does, even for a special occasion. Create a codeword so your teen can ask to be picked up without risking the ridicule of friends.
Driver Education: Teens and Defensive Driving
May 20, 2009
Teens are often urged to “drive defensively.” This is an excellent suggestion for any driver and is of particular importance to new drivers, who have limited experience in dealing with emergency situations and who are developing driving habits they may have for the rest of their lives. But what is defensive driving, exactly?
Driving defensively means driving in such a way that you reduce the risk of a crash, which will in turn prevent injury to yourself and others. It means going beyond following the rules of the road to put safety first. For example, if another driver is supposed to yield the right-of-way to you but fails to do so, as a defensive driver you will yield the right-of-way to that driver to avoid a collision.
Defensive driving isn’t just important in emergency situations, however. Using defensive driving techniques will help you:
- manage stressful driving conditions
- avoid traffic tickets
- keep your vehicle in good mechanical condition
- keep your driver’s license
There is no doubt that driving can be stressful, especially when traffic is heavy. One element of defensive driving is to maintain an adequate following distance from the vehicle in front of you. This decreases the risk of a rear-end collision if the vehicle ahead stops suddenly. Other ways to manage stress by driving defensively include:
- driving at a speed that is appropriate for conditions (which may be lower than, but is never higher than, the posted speed limit)
- checking intersections for cross traffic when you have a green traffic light (in case another driver runs the red light or a pedestrian is in the crosswalk)
- keeping a space cushion on all sides of your vehicle so you have room to maneuver if necessary
- watching the road ahead of your vehicle and checking your mirrors every three to five seconds so you notice hazards before they become a problem
Avoiding traffic tickets is especially important to drivers who are subject to a Graduated Driver’s Licensing program; these programs often restrict advancement to the next stage of licensure unless very few or no points accrue on the teen’s license. Traffic violations also mean hefty insurance increases for young drivers, who are already paying high rates because they are in a high-risk category. But following the rules of the road only when you’re worried about getting a ticket is not sufficient; if you’re not concentrating on driving defensively, you’re likely to make mistakes due to your reduced level of alertness. These mistakes could result in a ticket or even a crash, and even a minor fender-bender can result in points on your driving record.
Part of defensive driving is making sure that your vehicle is in good mechanical condition. Don’t wait for a breakdown to get your vehicle checked out; your owner’s manual offers a schedule of suggested maintenance tasks. Tires with low air or worn tread reduce your traction and make skids more likely. Your brakes need to be in top condition at all times. Even something as simple as not having windshield wiper fluid in the reservoir can impair your visibility and increase your chances of a crash. Don’t just put gas in the car and drive; take responsibility for ensuring that your vehicle is ready for the road.
As you’ve probably learned from your driver handbook, having a driver’s license is a privilege, not a right. This means that your driver’s license can be taken away, including for some non-driving offenses.
Driving defensively is part of an overall pattern of responsible behavior that will help you keep your license and the increased level of independence that comes with it.