The Increased Dangers Of Teen Driving In The Summer

Connecticut residents may not be surprised to learn that teenage drivers are involved in more car accidents during the summer while they are out of school. The period from around Memorial Day until August when school is back in session is particularly dangerous. There are often more than 1,000 deaths from teen crashes during this stretch of summer, which AAA calls the “100 deadliest days.”

For the last five years, an average of 1,022 people died during these deadly days from wrecks that involved teen drivers. According to AAA, around 10 people are killed every day by drivers between the ages of 16 – 19. Summer deaths involving teen drivers are 16 percent higher than other periods during the year.

Teens typically have trouble staying safe on the roads because they are more susceptible to some forms of distracted driving. Talking and texting on cell phones while driving contributes to 58.8 percent of these summer wrecks. A survey released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed that the amount of young drivers ages 16 – 24 seen using a handheld device went from 1 percent in 2007 to 4.8 percent in 2014. Texting is more dangerous than making calls while driving because both the hands and eyes are engaged with the phone.

Distracted driving might often involve a cell phone, but this negligent behavior includes anything that takes a person’s focus off the road. Teen drivers also frequently become distracted when one or more people are in the car with them. Victims of such car crashes may wish to file a personal injury suit to seek compensation.