Teens and Distracted Driving

April 15, 2019 in Industry News, Tips

Statistically, teens are at a greater risk to be involved in an auto accident. This makes sense because although their senses are the sharpest, they are the least experienced on the road. Not only are teens the least experienced, they are also more likely to be distracted by cell phones, or friends in the car than other driver age groups. Most teens today have grown up with technology and because of this feel that they are more than capable of using it while driving. However, that belief is wrong, distracted driving can cause horrendous accidents and result in injuring or killing other motorists. Fully understanding the risk of teens driving distracted is extremely important if you have a teen driver, or if you are simply a motorist driving on the roads.

For more information on distracted driving, check out this article on decide to drive

From research provided to AAA, “Research using teen crash videos has found that distraction was a factor in nearly 60% of teen crashes, including 89% of road-departure crashes and 76% of rear-end crashes.” That means that of all teen crashes, more than half were caused by distracted driving. That is a scary statistic. So is the fact that over three quarters of rear-end crashes were caused by distracted driving alone. For more of AAA’s statistics on teen driving and distractions, click here.

According to AAA, the latest report compared new crash videos with those captured from 2007-12 and found consistent trends in the top three distractions for teens when behind the wheel in the moments leading up to a crash:

• Talking or attending to other passengers in the vehicle — 15% of crashes.
• Talking, texting or operating a cellphone — 12% of crashes.
• Attending to or looking at something inside the vehicle — 11% of crashes.

In Utah, between 2005 and 2014, 9.4 percent of all crashes involved distracted drivers. And in 2014, the most recent available data, teenage drivers were involved in almost 20 percent of all distracted driving crashes.

There are ways to prevent distracted driving, including laws. States have no texting and driving laws, and if seen using your cell phone you could get a ticket and possibly even a fine. Many states also limit the amount of people a newly licensed driver can have in the car at one time, and this can also result in a penalty.

Here are a few ways to prevent distracted driving:

• Focus entirely on driving
• If something happens that you need to turn your attention to, pull to the side of the road
• Adjust GPS and other distracting technology before you begin driving
• If other people are in the car, make sure they help you focus, rather than pull your attention away

For more ways to prevent distracted driving, click here.

For helpful advice or to learn more about our services, contact A.U.T.O. Collision at 801.568.0305 or visit the shop at 215 West 9210 South, Sandy, Utah 84070. We are here to serve you Monday – Friday, 8am – 5:30pm.