January is Teen Driving Awareness Month

January is teen driving awareness month, and the perfect time to sit down with your new drivers and explain just what being a safe and aware driver entails. Car accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers. Each day 6 teenagers will lose their lives in a car accident. This number is staggering, so having a conversation with your teenagers about safe driving could help reduce the number of preventable accidents that occur far too often.

A majority of accidents among new drivers are caused by a lack of experience on the road. The CDC reports that new drivers are 3x more likely to be involved in a car accident per mile driven.

Distracted driving is another leading cause of accidents among young drivers. Cell phones being the number one distraction on the road today. This is an easy fix. Don’t use your mobile device while driving and make this a rule that you discuss with your teenagers. Eliminating cell phone use while driving can help save lives.

In 2015 3,477 people were killed and 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle accidents involving a distracted driver. This number continues to rise as people continue to use their mobile devices while driving.

While checking your texts, responding back to an email or updating your Facebook feed may seem like a simple task, doing so while driving is very dangerous. When you cho0se to take your eyes off the road for as little as 5 seconds, at 55 mph, that is the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.

Top 5 causes of Teen Driving Accidents:

• The main reason for teenage car accidents is inexperience behind the wheel
• 66% of teen passengers who die in a crash are not wearing a seat belt
• 58% of teens involved in crashes are distracted
• 25% of car crashes involved an underage alcohol-impaired driver
• 5% of teen deaths in crashes are pedestrians and 10% are bicyclists

Tips to share with your teen driver to avoid distracted driving:

• Keep your eyes on the road, keep your hands on the wheel
• Don’t look at passengers when talking to them
• Do not use your cell phone or any type of mobile device when driving
• If you need to, pull over to the side of the road or go to a parking lot to make a call or send a text
• Pullover to enter an address into navigation or Google maps, don’t do it when you are driving
• Don’t check emails when you are driving
• Don’t text when you are driving
• Don’t consume alcohol, then get behind the wheel. Even if you think you are not drunk, your reflex time is greatly diminished after drinking alcohol
• Don’t put on your makeup when driving
• Do not drive with friends in your car right away – wait to become a more experienced driver

By discussing these helpful driving tips and staggering statistics with your teen driver we can help reduce the number of accidents that occur each day.

If you or a loved one is injured in a car accident that was not your fault, call Graves McLain at 918-359-6600. When you call our local Tulsa Oklahoma personal injury law firm, you will speak with an experienced Oklahoma Car Accident attorney absolutely FREE. Our attorneys will investigate every detail of your accident and fight hard to ensure that your rights are protected.

At Graves McLain, you will never pay an attorney’s fee upfront, and you owe us nothing until we win your case. At Graves McLain, we don’t get paid until you do.

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