Distracted driving, texting while driving: We have all heard the terms.  Is it really that dangerous? Should we be worried? Teens do this every day, shouldn’t they be good at it? The road can be dangerous anytime one encounters a distracted driver.

Here’s a video I came across that really shows how dangerous texting while driving is “Not everyone should text and walk. No one should text and drive.” Ouch! Bad things happen if a driver isn’t looking at the road. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. teens. The majority of these crashes are caused by inexperience or distractions. More than 5,000 teens (ages 16-20) are killed in passenger vehicle crashes each year. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could prevent these needless deaths?

With the immense popularity of mobile devices, teens and adults are generally hooked to texting and talking over mobile phones even while doing other activities. The use of a cell phone while driving slows down the reaction time of the driver and it can be the same as that of a 70-year old. The American Automobile Association reports that nearly 50 percent of teens admit to texting while driving. This act can be a disastrous.

The challenge still continues on making people, specifically teens, really understand the dangers caused by using a cell phone behind the wheel. There are many movements that help educate people on safe driving. Each of us can play an important role to minimize motor vehicle crashes. Parents should set as an example of having a good driving behavior. Keep in mind that safety matters and it is wrong to text and drive. Forward this video to all the teens you know. Maybe it will make a difference and prevent a fatal car accident.

The overall number of traffic fatalities during the first six months of 2011 decreased but not for 16-and 17-year-olds! Their number went up from 190 to 211. This is an 11 percent increase.  Deaths among 16-year-old drivers went up from 80 to 93 (a 16 percent rise). During that same period deaths among 17-year-olds rose from 110 to 118 (7 percent).  This was reported to be the first increase in eight years according to information from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).

Florida, Texas and North Carolina are among the states that have the most significant increases in teen fatalities.  There were 23 states that reported jumps in traffic deaths, 19 states had decreases and eight states plus the District of Columbia saw no change.

Author Allan Williams, formerly the chief scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said in a GHSA statement that, “While it is not a surprise that these numbers are stabilizing or slightly increasing, states should not accept these deaths as something that cannot be prevented.  More work can and should be done to save teen lives.”  He speculated that the increase may be due to the leveling off of initial benefits from ‘Graduated Driving Licensing laws.  The economy may also be a factor because, more teens are behind the wheel and thus increasing their risk for fatal accidents.

Barbara Harsha, GHSA executive director, believes that states need more federal help to save more teen lives.  The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the states should have funds to be put toward “distracted driving” campaigns directed at teen drivers who may be texting, phoning or simply carrying on with friends while driving.

As a personal injury attorney and a parent, I personally get involved in showing my teens safe driving habits. Distracted driving is 4 times more dangerous than drunk driving.  I prohibit them to any type of distractions while driving, especially electronic devices.  Texting and driving is an epidemic. Programs and campaigns that bring awareness to the dangerous associated with distracted driving will help. In my opinion, however it goes back to the parents. Our examples and rules prohibiting texting while driving will do more than any federally funded program.

According to a recent report the United States could save 2,000 lives a year if all 50 states established comprehensive programs of phased-in privileges for young drivers. A report from the Allstate Foundation and the National Safety Council stated that an estimated 20 lives can be saved in Kentucky from the implementation of a more comprehension graduated driver licensing law.

Auto accidents are the leading cause of death among teens. Every State has a form of GDL, which rewards novice drivers with additional driving privileges as they gain experience and maturity. John Ulczycki of the National Safety Council and other experts say that the most effective GDL programs contain seven components.

The seven components are:

1. Minimum age 16 for a learner’s permit;
2. Six months before unsupervised driving;
3. Minimum 30 hours supervised driving during learner’s stage;
4. Intermediate licensing at 16 ½ minimum;
5. Intermediate nighttime driving restriction beginning no later than 10 p.m.;
6. No more than one non-family passenger for intermediate license holders;
7. Minimum age 17 for a full license

New York and Delaware are the only states that have programs with all seven components. In Kentucky, the GDL program includes:

a) A six month learning permit at age 16 that requires adult supervision;

b) A restriction on driving after midnight during the permit level;

c) A six point limit on traffic violations to age 18, with a penalty of license suspension; and

d) A four hour driving education class. Under the current National Highway Traffic Safety

Kentucky’s program no longer meets the minimum requirements for a full GDL program with seven components recommended by the National Safety Council.

This is an issue that Kentucky Lawmakers should consider. As a Kentucky Personal Injury Attorney and a father of a teenage daughter, I am concerned about the number of car crashes involving teen drivers. I agree that more lives and more money will be saved if GDL programs in Kentucky will be strengthened.  This is enhancements to the current law should defiantly be considered by Kentucky Law makers.

The greatest risk of traffic crashes is among teenage drivers.  Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers across the United States.  There are many factors that cause teenagers to be such risky drivers.  Among these are:

• Poor hazard detection;
• Low risk perception;
• Risk taking;
• Lack of skill;
• Alcohol and drugs;
• and many others

There is a new study by crash experts that show why newly licensed teenagers have many more car accidents than adults,  that being gravitational forces or “g-forces” caused by braking late and then swerving abruptly.  This causes loss of control of the vehicle and leaves less time to react to hazards.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health studied 42 newly licensed teens and 55 parents, for comparative purposes, in order to assess their driving habits.  Their cars were outfitted with surveillance systems to collect information on acceleration and mileage, as well as video monitoring equipment.  The study showed that novice teen drivers are almost four times as likely to end up in a car accident or a close-call as adult drivers.  Teens experienced higher rates of crashes or near-crashes compared with their parents.  Teens behind the wheel experienced much higher g-forces because they engaged in sharp turning 25 to 30 times more often than their parents.  Consequently their accident risk was higher.

The NIH team concluded that risky driving declines with experience and adolescents learn to reduce risky driving behavior.  It remains unclear why teens maintain dangerous driving habits despite getting better at handling risky g-force maneuvering.  I would speculate that teens are risk takers who enjoy the thrill of speed.  Another thought is they are just clueless about related safety concerns.  Parents have a big job in keeping their teenage driver kids to be aware of the safety measures in driving to follow in order to avoid accidents and fatalities on the roadway.

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States.  Over 5,000 teen’s ages 16 to 20 die due to fatal injuries each year caused by car accidents and about 400, 000 drivers will be seriously injured.  Teen drivers are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in a car crash.

As a father and a Kentucky personal injury attorney it disappoints me when I see how unsafe teenagers are that are driving on Kentucky roads. 

• What can we do to make our children safer drivers?
• To keep them from texting while driving?
• To make sure they don’t drink and drive?

We can’t stop them and take away their right to drive.  As parents, we can make a big difference in preventing car accidents, which are considered to be the number one killer of our teens.  Here is a one-minute- I Pledge Video – that shows parents pledging to protect their teen drivers, the same way they pledged to keep them safe since the day they were born.  We do everything we can just to make sure of our child’s safety and protection when they are young.

We have great influence over our teen’s behavior and can play a key role in preventing our teen from being involved in serious or even fatal car crashes.  Let’s stay involved with our teen’s driving.  The first step is to talk about staying safe behind the wheel. Agree to rules while driving such as:

• Avoid distractions while driving
• Prohibiting driving at night
• Set curfew times
• Wearing seat belts at all times 

Learning and enforcing Kentucky’s teen driving laws is a must for your teen to review and acknowledge.  Practice driving as often as we can with our teens and supervise his/her driving so that they’ll be more experience and safer behind the wheel. 

Motor vehicle crashes can happen to anyone in Kentucky because lack experience. New driver’s have to think about every little thing and our more likely to be involved in a car accident.  If parents and teens join hand in hand, together they can make it safer to drive on Kentucky roads and prevent serious and fatal auto accidents.

Driving my daughter to school this morning we saw a car cut through three lanes of traffic to make a right turn. She looked at me and said “What that car did wasn’t very safe”.  With that simple statement it hit me; she would be going to get her driving permit in less than two weeks. My youngest daughter would be let loose on the Kentucky roads and will be driving. UGH!!!! (To quote Charlie Brown).

As a father and an accident attorney I started thinking about how dangerous the roads are and that they were not a very safe place for my little girl.  All of the horrible facts concerning automobile accidents, the fatal accident scenes that I had worked as a prosecutor and the many cases I have handled started running through my mind.

• Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers.

• Teenagers in the United States account for 10% of the population and 12% of the car accidents. It is worse for the 15-24 year old age group. This group makes up  approximately 14% of the U.S. population and for almost 30% of the cost of motor vehicle accident injuries.

• Newly licensed teen drivers have a higher crash rate their first year of driving than any  other year.

Why is this the case? Inexperience plain and simple.

• Most teen drivers will underestimate the seriousness of a dangerous situation.

• Teen driver have a hard time recognizing the presence of a hazardous situation.

• Teen drivers will break the speed limit more often than any other age group.

• Drunk drivers are bad, but teenaged drunk drivers are even more likely to cause a car  accident.

• Inexperienced drivers cause more accidents.

• The use of cell phones increase the risk of car accidents.

• Teen drivers have a much more difficult time adjusting to night driving.

What am I suppose to do? What do parents need to do to protect these new drivers? I do not want to obsess and just wait around for a late night phone call. How can we help reduce and prevent motor vehicle accident s involving teenagers? A good place to start is driver’s education and parent involvement. Sign up for a driver education class. Take the time to teach your kid how to be a safe driver. These steps may prevent injuries and even death.
injury accident

Kentucky is a state that has a Graduated Drivers License (GDL) program. These programs have been shown to reduce fatal and injury accidents involving new teenage drivers by up to 40%! GDLs delay full licensing of teens and restrict them from driving in higher risk situations. The goal of these programs is to reduce the number of car accidents involving our young drivers.

During the permit driving phase a new driver must be certified by their parent to have at least 60 hours of practice time behind the wheel. This is the minimum. The more they practice the better driver they will ultimately be. Also, any permit driver that receives a ticket and a violation during the 180 day permit phase has to start over. It will be another 180 days before they are eligible for their license.

Maybe things aren’t as bad as I think they are. Maybe I am acting like Eyore. But then I think back to daughter number one who is now an excellent driver. During her first year of driving she totaled two cars. Thankfully she walked away both times uninjured. Can I prevent daughter number two from a similar fate? No, but I believe I can increase her odds of success.

Should I have sign a safe driving contract? I think I will. Hopefully this will help make her aware of the many dangerous there are on the road and the responsibility one has when they are behind the wheel. Kentucky had on of the highest rates of teen car accidents in the nation in 2006. Teens made up 6% of our population and caused a whopping 20% of the accidents.

GDL programs are aimed at reducing these accidents after the permit phase and these driver’s are on the road without an experienced driver in the car. Night time driving is restricted between midnight and 6:00 A.M., except in emergency situations. I may be stricter myself, but this is a great law. Also the number of unrelated passengers under the age of 20 are restricted to one. Another great idea, because statistics show that the risk of an accident increases with the number of passengers. I guess it all comes down to paying attention to what you are doing and not multi-tasking.

Wish me luck over the next months. It is an exciting and scary time. My goal is to teach my daughter responsible driving. To be someone who makes are roads safer. To be an example of a good driver. Any suggestions would be appreciated.