The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Teen drivers have parents worried
AAA: Crash rates of 16- and 17-year-olds much higher than older drivers
The statistics confirm every parent’s fear.
A recent study conducted by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found the crash rate of drivers ages 16 to 17 was nearly double that of drivers ages 18 to 19 and approximately 4.5 times that of motorists in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
The fact isn’t lost on Sarah Nowak, whose son Mark is 16 and a new driver. His parents are considering house rules that are even stricter than state law, including a driving curfew of 9 or 10 p.m. — which is an hour earlier than the state requires for drivers his age.
Nowak said Mark will also have to keep her apprised of his whereabouts.
“He won’t be going anywhere without us knowing exactly where or when he’s expected home,” she said, during a recent visit to the state Department of Motor Vehicles office in Hamden.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teens’ lack of driving experience, combined with their risk-taking behavior, puts them at the increased risk for motor vehicle crashes.
While teens are excited for the increased freedom of the open road, parents remain understandably apprehensive.
Ian Melchinger, 47, of New Haven, said his concern for his daughter Hannah stems from the fact that “you never really know what will happen.”
Teens are aware that inexperience, drinking and speeding increase the likelihood of motor vehicle crashes, he said. Melchinger said teens have to exercise even more caution than more experienced drivers.
“So I’m sure in an ideal situation, [Hannah will] do fine. What I don’t know is how to prepare for stupid stuff,” Melchinger said. “We live downtown, we’re used to seeing sirens every day. You drive by and say ‘oh, those poor innocent people,’ but when you’re in it, it’s very much faster than anyone thinks.”
Despite these fears, he said he believes his daughter understands the basic safety rules on the road and will act accordingly.
The risks
Young drivers are more likely to die in an accident, or cause the death of another person this time of year. The span between Memorial Day and Labor Day is known as the “100 deadliest days” for a reason.
Crashes for teen drivers increase significantly during the summer months since teens are not confined to the classroom and spend more time on the road during, according to AAA. The average number of deaths from crashes involving teen drivers aged 16 to 19 increases by 15 percent compared to rest of the year, a 2017 AAA report states.
Further, according to a study AAA did working with the University of Iowa, “60 percent of teen crashes today are caused by distracted driving,” CBS News reported.
“The top distraction for teens is other passengers, accounting for 15 percent of teen driver accidents, compared to 12 percent caused by distracted by texting or talking on a cell phone,” the report said.
Even though motor vehicles crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States, implementing policies to improve safety conditions can reduce the frequency.
In an attempt to reverse this alarming trend, AAA urges parents to help reduce the number of deadly crashes on the road by getting more involved and talking to their teens about the dangers of risky behavior behind the wheel. AAA encourages parents to create a parent-teen driving agreement that sets family rules for teen drivers.
Graduated driver licensing systems have been proven effective in keeping teens safer on the road by helping new drivers gain experience under low-risk conditions and granting driving privileges in stages, according to the CDC. As teens move through the stages, they are given additional privileges, such as the ability to have friends as passengers in the vehicle,
Research indicates that the most comprehensive GDL systems prevent crashes and save lives.
For example, a state report shared by the DMV online shows that during the 5 years following passage of a stricter GDL law in 2008 “there were 26 fatal MVCs involving a novice teen driver (15,16 or 17 years). Thirty individuals were killed in these crashes: 11 (37 percent were drivers (15-17 years), 8 (27 percent) were passengers of those drivers, 5 (17 percent) were drivers or passengers of the other vehicles, and 6 (20 percent) were pedestrians.” Also according to the report, in the 5-year “annualized fatality rate for crashes involving 16-17 year old drivers decreased from 6.3 (20032008) to 2.2 (2009-2013) per 100,000 population. In half of the fatal crashes ...a novice teen driver was violating the new GDL law.”
In Connecticut, teens are eligible to obtain a learner’s permit when they turn 16. By the time they are 16½, teens can get a provisional license with driving restrictions that end when they turn 18.
The state Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Office also brings two teen driving programs to Connecticut high schools every school year, said Joseph Cristalli Jr., coordinator of the Transportation Principal Safety Program. Both of these programs had more than 100 presentations during the 2016-17 school year.
The “Save a Life Tour” is a distracted driving program that uses two distracted driving simulators to illustrate, in a safe setting, the potentially dangerous consequences of distracted driving. The “Choices Matter” program is an impaired driving program with motivational speaker Chris Sandy, who spent over eight years in prison after causing a drunken driving crash.
There are also a handful of grants that target underage drinking grants with local police departments and universities. Underage alcohol enforcement grant participants collaborate with the public school system and with the students’ parents to change perceptions and behaviors about underage consumption of alcohol, Cristalli said.
Grant participants conduct directed patrols, including inspections of bars, restaurants and liquor stores as well as patrolling sporting events, school dances and school hosted post-graduation parties.