Distracted Driving is Focus of National Teen Driver Safety Week

With car crashes as the leading cause of teenager deaths, this week has been designated “National Teen Driver Safety Week.” The theme for this year is distracted driving, which is no surprise considering that teen drivers are the ones at highest risk of becoming involved in a distracted driving-related accident.

Other common causes of teen driving accidents:
• Driver inexperience • Speed • Immaturity and impatience • Forgetting to wear a seat belt • Drunk driving
• Drowsy driving • Drugged driving • Driving at night
Teen drivers that are negligent or reckless while driving can easily become involved in a Boston, injury accident. It is important that parents work with teens to prevent Massachusetts traffic crashes from happening.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Offers “Rules” that Parents Can Set with Their Kids to Encourage Them to Drive Safely:
• Do not allow your teen to drink alcohol • Make sure your teen is always using a seat belt while driving • Even though texting and cell phone use is banned, enforce this rule with them • Give your teen a curfew time • Make sure that your teen obeys the state’s teen driving laws
According to two studies that came out in the journal Pediatricslast year, parents that are proactive about setting and abiding by boundaries and rules can turn their kids into safer drivers. Per the study, teens with actively involved parents lower their drunk driving risk by 70%, are 30% less likely to use a cell phone, and are 50% less likely to speed. Kids who don’t have their own car and must ask their parents to use a vehicle are 50% less likely to get involved in a traffic crash.

In Massachusetts, the state’s Junior Operator Law prohibits teens under 18 from texting or talking on a cell phone. The law also bars teens from driving between 12:30am and 5am and provides a passenger restriction. A teen that gets caught drag-racing or speeding faces harsh penalties.

It’s National Teen Driver Safety Week (Oct. 17-23), So Talk to Your Kids, Time, October 18, 2010
Strict rules from parents lead to safer-driving teens, USA Today, September 25, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Teen Drivers, NHTSA
Junior Operator License, MassDOT
If you were injured in a Boston, Massachusetts car crash that was caused by another party, contact Altman & Altman, LLP to discuss your case.