Memorial Day Starts the 100 Deadliest Days for Teen Drivers

Today starts the Memorial Day weekend. This is a time to remember and honor American service members who have died in combat. Veteran’s Day and Armed Forces Day, by contrast, both honor those among us who have served or are still serving in the military. On those days - and of course not just those days - we reach out to veterans and current military members and thank them for wearing the uniform and facing grave danger. Memorial Day is reserved for those who can’t return a smile or a salute, not to mention the families and friends who have been left behind.

Please take the time for remembrance and to explain the true meaning of Memorial Day to your children.

Unfortunately, a sobering statistic for the unofficial start of summer is that Memorial Day kicks off what’s known as 100 deadliest days for teen drivers.

From Memorial Day through Labor Day in 2012, nearly 1,000 people were killed in crashes involving teen drivers, and more than 550 of those killed were teens, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data analyzed by the nonprofit National Safety Council.

A recent study found that loud conversations and horseplay between passengers were more likely than technology to result in a dangerous incident involving teen drivers.

The study by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center tracked 52 high-school age drivers in North Carolina who agreed to have cameras installed in their cars. The study appeared in the Journal of Adolescent Health this spring.

When there was loud conversation in the car, teen drivers were six times more likely to need to take actions like making an evasive maneuver to avoid a crash. When there was horseplay in the vehicle, they were three times more likely to get into a similarly serious episode, according to the study.

Teach your teen drivers to be the best drivers they can. Have a family pact that no one will use their phone to text, chat, or anything while driving. Limit the number of people in the car when your teen is driving.

Be safe,

For more information, see http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/23/living/100-deadliest-days-for-teen-drivers-parents/index.html.

attorney adrienne blocker, Memorial Day, teen drivers