Did you know that car accident risks increase the younger the drivers are?
The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that the dangers of accidents are doubled when a teenager drives alone, and five times when two or more young people are in the car.
Two new studies of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the insurance company State Farm, highlight the dangers of the tendency in adolescents to entertain themselves with electronic devices while driving, showing how they react according to their gender. The researchers found that young drivers with companions of the same age may be more exposed to accidents than if they were driving alone.
The behavior of young men and women is different
These investigations reveal that driving with companions does not affect drivers of both sexes in the same way. Young people tend to have accidents due to speeding and reckless driving. They are 6 times more likely to commit traffic violations, and twice as likely to drive aggressively than if they were driving alone.
Girls are exposed to accidents from distractions such as looking at or conversing with their friends, talking on the cell phone, or texting. Generally young women do not tend to drive recklessly, it does not matter if they are alone or accompanied.
Although if we talk about distractions caused by electronic items, girls have an advantage over young people. Studies report that 51% of them read and write text messages frequently while driving, compared to 38% of young people. In relation to music, 84% of young women listen to or manipulate music devices while driving, compared to 69% of the other sex.
Adolescents know the risks posed by cell phones because of the danger of entertaining themselves while driving, however, they continue to develop risky behaviors at alarming levels. An example, 1 in 10 young people admit that they send more than 50 text messages a day while driving. But sending SMS is not the only distraction to which they are exposed, another large percentage admit that they manipulate the radio or music players. Many others amuse themselves surfing the internet on their phones, iPads or tablets.
These recklessness related to the use of electronic items are not only risky due to the occurrence of accidents they cause, even if they do not crash, they are exposed to extreme situations, almost to the point of causing misfortunes. A survey found that 68% of those investigated have been very close to having accidents due to these causes.
Although adolescents usually tend to blame the weather and other drivers as the cause of accidents, the reality is that 21% of those involved in car accidents were sending text messages, 20% were talking to other passengers, and 17% manipulated music players.
The behavior is not changing
Despite all the campaigns that have been done in multiple ways to change these bad habits, very little has been achieved. Many of the teens who report being very close to accidents continue to engage in risky behaviors.
It would seem that the only thing that can change this situation is the fact that the young person has been involved or suffered an actual accident. Almost 70% of teen drivers admit that the event changed their driving forever. Which is not to say that from then on they will give up the bad habits of talking on the phone and manipulating music players while driving.
They are really very complex situations that make the United States one of the countries with the highest incidence of car accidents caused by teenagers.
Parents will surely wonder how they can avoid the dangers of their children having an accident.
Parents must actively intervene
About 90% of teens learn to drive by watching their parents. These undoubtedly constitute a very important model in this regard. Parents should make sure their youngest children learn and follow the driving laws of their state.
Currently 45 states and the District of Columbia have restrictions on the number of passengers in their traffic laws, and 30 prohibit the use of cell phones while driving. But you have to think that these laws will not change the landscape much if parents do not worry about their children learning and raising awareness about proper driver education.
In this sense, Kelly K. Browning, executive of Impact Teen Drivers, encourages parents to make use of the detailed “Parent-Teen Driving Contract” provided by the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC), which includes aspects of proper driving behaviors and penalties for driving violations. This will make young people participate in the high responsibility that driving a car implies, in addition to learning the elementary rules and laws that govern driver education in each region of the United States.