Teens’ biggest dangers – part one

Distracted Driving

Distracted driving involves any activity that takes the driver’s attention away from the primary task of driving. Distracted driving, impairment, speeding, and not wearing seat belts are all risky choices that can lead to serious injury and death. Teens, who are still learning the complex skills of driving, are particularly susceptible to distractions while behind the wheel. Don’t let you or your teen become another statistic. Here are the facts:

• Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of death for U.S. teens. Mile for mile, teens 16 to 19 years old are involved in 3 times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. And 1 in 3 teens who text say they have done so while driving.
• According to a CDC survey, in 2019, 39 percent of high school students who drove in the past 30 days texted or emailed while driving on at least one of those days.
• A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study revealed that physically dialing a phone while driving increases the risk of a crash as much as 6 times. Texting is riskier still, increasing collision risk by 23 times.

There are three kinds of distractions:

• Visual – doing something that requires the driver to look away from the driving task.
• Manual – doing something that requires the driver to take one or both hands off the wheel.
• Cognitive – doing something that causes the driver’s mind to wander or focus elsewhere.

To combat this growing epidemic, we suggest the following:

• Set a good example: Kids observe and learn from their parents and guardians. Put your phone away while driving and only use it when you are safely pulled over. According to the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of teens age 12 to 17 say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put themselves and others in danger.
• Talk to your teen: In Michigan, teens with a Level 1 or Level 2 Graduated Driver License are prohibited from using a mobile phone while driving (Kelsey’s Law), and all drivers are prohibited from texting while driving. Discuss the risks and responsibilities of driving and the danger of dividing their attention between their phone and the road. Show them the statistics related to distracted driving and urge them to share what they learn with their friends. Encourage them to speak up if they are a passenger in a car with a distracted driver.
• Establish ground rules: Set up family rules in addition to the limits set by the Graduated Driver Licensing Program (GDL), and make sure both sets of rules are clear from the start.
• Sign a pledge: Have your teen take action by agreeing to a family contract about wearing safety belts, not speeding, not driving after drinking, and not using a cell phone behind the wheel. Agree on penalties for violating the pledge, such as paying for tickets or loss of driving privileges. A sample contract is located on pages 21–22 of this guide.
• Other dangerous distractions: In addition to cell phone use, distracted driving can include eating, grooming, drinking, adjusting the radio, shuffling/streaming music, using the GPS, talking to passengers, or watching a video, just to name a few activities. Inexperienced drivers are particularly susceptible to these kinds of distractions.

Inexperience

Just as it takes years to perfect any skill — athletic, artistic, or otherwise — it also takes years to be a truly good driver. Until teens are much more experienced, they run a greater risk of crashing, being hurt or killed. A driver’s license makes them a driver. Experience helps them become safer drivers.

Teens’ biggest dangers – part two

Newly licensed teens crash much more often than older, more experienced drivers. Besides distracted driving, passengers and inexperience, other circumstances that are common trouble areas for young drivers include:

Seat belts

Seat belt use is lowest among teen drivers. In fact, the majority of teenagers involved in fatal crashes are unbuckled. In 2018, 45 percent of teen drivers who died were unbuckled. Even more troubling, when the teen driver involved in the fatal crash was unbuckled, nine out of 10 of the passengers who died were also unbuckled. Whether sitting in the front or back of a car, buckle up every trip, and remind other passengers to buckle up too. It could save their lives, and yours.

Fatigue

As teens get older their bedtimes get later, but waking times don’t tend to change. Their nightly sleep is reduced by 40–50 minutes. Teen drivers who sleep less than 8 hours a night are 33 percent more likely to crash than teens who get more than 8 hours of sleep. This lack of sleep can result in depressive moods, more risk-taking behaviors, and lower grades. It further reduces a person’s ability to process information, be attentive, and have good reflexes, all of which are crucial to driving skills. Studies have shown that being awake for 18 hours has a similar impact to having a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level of 0.08.

Night driving

For teens, the most severe crashes occur at night and on weekends. Night driving is challenging for all drivers, but novice drivers don’t have the experience to anticipate and react when visibility is reduced. When teens drive at night, it is more often with a lack of adult supervision, with other teen passengers, and at higher speeds — all of which are factors that increase risk.

Alcohol

Teens are at far greater risk of death in an alcohol-related crash than the overall population. This is despite the fact that they cannot legally purchase or publicly possess alcohol in any state. When alcohol is added to the inexperience of teen drivers, the results can be deadly. In 2019, 24 percent of young drivers 15 to 20 years old who were killed in crashes had BACs of .01 g/dL or higher.

Drugged driving

Although Michigan legalized recreational marijuana, it’s important to remember that it’s still illegal for anyone under age 21 to use it. And just because it may be legal, it doesn’t mean that it’s safe — especially when you are driving. Any drug, including prescription drugs, illegal drugs and drugs purchased over the counter, can have a detrimental effect on your ability to drive safely. The laws for operating under the influence of alcohol also apply to drugs, including marijuana. Smoking or ingesting marijuana will slow your reflexes and judgment, making it difficult to react quickly and appropriately to challenges on the road. It also can affect you physically. For example, marijuana limits night vision, making it more difficult to see when driving after dark. And it can change your perception of time. It is best and safest to never mix alcohol or drugs, including marijuana, with driving.

Speeding

We have seen a disturbing increase in speeding in recent years. According to NHTSA, in 2021, speeding was a factor in 32% of fatal crashes among teen drivers 15-18 years. The rate of these fatalities among males was nearly double that of females. Spend time talking to your teen about speeding and model this by following the speed limit yourself. Lastly, studies show that teens are less likely to speed if they drive the family car, instead of having their own vehicle.