Distracted Driving Is a Major Risk for Teen Drivers

As thousands of teenage drivers across California head back to school, a new report confirms to Burbank car accident lawyers the serious problems involving teenage distracted driving, and the high accident risks affecting such drivers.

According to the report that was released by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, teenagers comprise the largest portion of distracted motorists involved in fatal accidents. Approximately 57% of fatalities in these accidents were the teen drivers, and the remaining were passengers, occupants of other cars, and other people on the road like bicyclists.

The report also had other intriguing findings. Contrary to popular belief, it found that teenagers who were most likely to be driving distracted were not the ones who were the most inexperienced or the youngest. In fact, it found that the most inexperienced drivers or youngest drivers were actually less likely to use cell phones while driving, compared to older teenagers.

Teenagers continued to remain overrepresented in motor vehicle accident statistics. Teen crash fatalities dropped by 49% between 2003 and 2012. However, teenagers who account for just 6% of the total number of licensed drivers in the country, comprise 9% of all drivers involved in fatal accidents and 30% of all accidents that are reported to the police. Teenagers simply have higher numbers of distractions to cope with than adults.

More than one-third of teenagers now have smart phones, an increase from 23% back in 2011. Many teenagers access the Internet not just on their cell phones, but also electronic communication devices like tablets, and much of that access happens when they are driving. Distractions from changing radio channels, distractions from outside the car and distractions involving fellow teenage passengers all of these increase the risk of an accident involving a teenage motorist.