Being a parent is a tough job. However, being a parent of a teenager can be just plain scary. Part of the reason why parenting a teen is so rough is because teens no longer see themselves as children. Teens want to jump into adulthood and try new things. But as a parent, you still want to hold them back a little to keep them safe. Often the most frightening time to parent a teen is when he or she is ready to receive their driver’s license. For any teenager, a driver’s license is still the ultimate symbol of freedom.
Unfortunately, teenagers are often blissfully unaware of the realities that they could potentially face behind the wheel. For example, does your teenager realize that motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds in the United States? In fact, more than 2,600 teenage drivers were involved in fatal crashes in 2013 and approximately 130,000 were injured.
These statistics are why it is so important for parents to talk to their teens about safe driving habits. Just like you taught your son or daughter to ride a bike the correct way, the same conversation needs to happening about being a safe driver. However, the sad fact is that many parents are not having these types of conversations with their teens. In fact, in a survey only 1 in 4 parents reported having had a serious conversation with their teenage driver about the key components of safe driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations (NHTSA) has identified 5 key components that are critical to making sure teen drivers are safe behind the wheel. Parents can use these “5 rules to drive” as a checklist when talking to their teen. The 5 rules are as follows:
- No cell phone usage. The most dangerous thing to any driver is to try to multi-task while behind the wheel. Parents needs to stress to teens that using a cell phone to talk or text should never be done when driving. Parents can help by modeling this same behavior.
- Must wear a safety belt. Stress to your teen the importance of wearing a seat belt every time he or she is in a car, regardless of whether he or she is the driver or a passenger. More than half of 15 to 20 years old killed in car crashes were not wearing safety belts.
- No speeding. In more than 40% of fatal crashes involving 15 to 20 year olds, speed was a crash factor.
- No passengers. While it may be fun for a teen to drive with friends in the car, it is just not safe. Teen drivers who have one passenger riding with them are 2.5 times more likely to engage in risky behaviors than teenage drivers without passengers.
- Drive sober. While the legal driving limit may be 21 in all states, that does not mean teens do not experiment with alcohol. In fact, close to 30% of teens killed in fatal accidents had been drinking alcohol.
If your teenage son or daughter was seriously injured or killed in a car accident, the experienced Injury Attorneys at Hubbard & Kurtz, L.L.P. are here to help. Our skilled team of Kansas City Injury Attorneys will take all of necessary steps to ensure that justice is served. You can trust the Kansas City Injury Attorneys at Hubbard & Kurtz, L.L.P. to help you as they have helped countless injury victims around the area, in both Kansas and Missouri. Our attorneys will fight to make sure you’re your rights are protected and that your family receives proper compensation. We invite you to contact Hubbard & Kurtz, L.L.P. today at (816) 472-4673 to schedule an initial consultation. At Hubbard & Kurtz, L.L.P. you are a priority, not a number.