Parents Should Stay Invoved with New Teen Drivers AAA Study Says

According to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, teen drivers are approximately 50 percent more likely to crash in the first month of driving than they are after a full year of experience driving on their own, and are nearly twice as likely to crash as they are after two full years of experience. AAA says the results show why parents and guardians should stay involved in their teen’s driver education, even after the young driver receives his or her license.

Researchers found that three common mistakes:

• Failure to reduce speed,

• Inattention,

• And failure to yield 

accounted for 57 percent of all crashes in which teens were at least partially responsible during their first month of licensed driving. Additionally, researchers found that some types of crashes occurred at relatively high rates at first, but declined particularly quickly with experience.

For example, crashes involving left hand turns were common during the first few months of driving but declined almost immediately.

“What our new study tells us is that there are a few specific abilities that we could do a better job of helping teens develop before they begin driving independently,” said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger.

A related AAA Foundation study used in‐vehicle cameras to monitor teens when they were learning to drive with parents, followed by the first 6 months of licensed driving without their parents in the car. Videos of the unsupervised teen driving can be viewed here or can be found at www.aaafoundation.org.

While the vast majority of driving caught on camera was uneventful, the study did capture a number of close calls due to simple mistakes likely attributable to inexperience, along with a few instances of texting behind the wheel, horseplay with passengers, running red lights, and other potentially distracting or dangerous behaviors.

“Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States,” says Ronald W. Kosh, VP of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “Inexperienced teen drivers are prone to peer pressure, take risks, tend not to wear seat belts, attempt to multi-task behind the wheel and are increasingly distracted by young passengers.”

These studies affirm AAA’s long‐standing efforts to help parents prepare their teens for independent driving by practicing under a broad range of progressively more challenging conditions. Among the steps parents can take to improve teens’ safety as they start driving on their own, AAA suggests:

Practice, practice, practice: Once teens have their actual license, continue to practice together to ensure that basic skills are mastered and to introduce varied driving conditions (snow, heavy traffic, rural roads) with an experienced driver in the passenger seat.

Keep passengers out: Teen drivers’ crash risks multiply with teenage passengers in the vehicle. Set limits and enforce them consistently.

Limit night driving: Reduced visibility makes night driving riskier for drivers of all ages. For inexperienced teens, it’s even harder. Allow new teen drivers to drive at night only if truly necessary or to practice with a parent.

Keep setting rules: Parents can – and should – set and enforce rules above and beyond their state laws. In addition to night and passenger limits, set rules for inclement weather, highways, cities, or other driving conditions in which a teen has not gained enough experience. Find a parent‐teen driving agreement at www.AAA.com/teendriving that can help.

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New State Teen-Driving Restrictions

Last month, the Pennsylvania General Assembly approved tougher restrictions for newly licensed drivers in the Commonwealth, and Governor Corbett is expected to sign the bill into law soon.

The new restrictions would limit teen drivers to a single non-family passenger during the first six months of driving, as well as increase the requirement for teen drivers to have 65 hours behind-the-wheel from the 50 hours under the current law. 

Pennsylvania is one of just six states that impose no limits on teen passengers; 31 states have established seatbelt violations as a primary offense rather than a secondary offense as now applies in Pennsylvania.

The AAA Foundation commissioned the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center to conduct both studies. Findings pertaining to the crash rates of newly‐licensed drivers are based on analysis of crashes of young drivers licensed in North Carolina between Jan. 1, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2008. The video footage referenced here was collected in a study in which 38 teenage drivers in North Carolina were observed during their first 6 months of licensed driving using an in‐vehicle camera. These video clips can be viewed on the Foundation’s website by clicking here.

For more information about the teen driving study or to see the full reports, visit www.AAAFoundation.org.