Recently in Adams County, a 16-year-old passenger died in a car accident when the driver collided with a tree. In Lehigh County, a 19-year-old boy collided with a guardrail and died in the accident.
All too often, we hear about teenagers suffering life-changing injuries or death in car accidents on Pennsylvania roads. Parents want to protect their children from danger, but they cannot always do so, especially when teenagers obtain their driver’s license.
Why do teens face such high risk on the road?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that auto accidents are the leading cause of injury and death for teenagers.
There are several reasons that teens are involved in these kinds of accidents so often, including:
The rate of accidents also increases in the summer
Now that school is out, more teenagers hit the road with their friends. Many experts and studies agree that the rate of accidents involving teens increases in the summertime often because:
The months of July through September are also some of the deadliest for traffic accidents. And that only contributes to the already high risk that teenagers face.
Parents can help increase safety for teens on the road
Learning does not stop after someone obtains their driver’s license. There is still much that teens must learn about the roads. And parents can help them learn by:
Taking these measures can help build a teen’s confidence on the road and reduce their risk of being involved in an accident.