One Split Second: Why Teen Driver Safety Can’t Be Ignored

Teen driver safety is an extremely important public concern with large impacts for individuals, family, and communities. Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of death and injury for young teens in the United States. This is in part due to risk-taking behavior and inexperience as well as situational influences such as distractions and peer pressure. While teens gain the ability to drive as they grow into young adulthood, we have an obligation to equip them with the choices, knowledge, skills, and abilities to drive safely. A key factor in this process is a driver’s overall education which is a central part of learning to drive safely.

Driver’s education not only equips teens with the basic competency skills to operate a car, but they also learn basic fundamentals such as traffic laws, situational awareness, and defensive driving. Through classroom instruction as well as on-street supervised practice, teens develop knowledge regarding emergency situations, how to drive in weather-related conditions, and potential dangers associated with distracted or impaired driving. Importantly, once a teen takes the effort and time to complete a formal driver’s education program, they form sound habits from the beginning of their development as a teen driver. In reality, unless a young driver receives formal driver’s education, most of their learning comes from informal or quick instruction which helps to form and develop unsafe driving practices and ultimately increases the potential for a crash.

Although driver’s education provides value to young drivers, they will still face many challenges. One of the most significant challenges in teen driver safety today is distraction particularly as it relates to phones and in-vehicle technology. The actions a driver might take that distract them from the road may only take up a moment of time, but that time could be enough to be involved in a catastrophic accident. Young drivers are more likely to show off, increase their speed, or take risks because of peer pressure from their friends. A lack of experience sometimes means you aren’t ready to make a split-second decision when it comes to merging onto a highway, avoiding a crash, or making a difficult turn.

It is essential for young drivers to fully understand these distractions well before they put the key in the ignition. Eliminating distractions is an excellent place to start; it is important for young drivers to know that a phone is properly set to “Do Not Disturb” mode and before the vehicle is at a complete stop, waiting until the driver transports into their own car, when possible. A driver should limit the number of passengers while transporting their friends. Parents and guardians can enforce that expectations are set, actions have inputs, and model good driving practices for their youth. A lack of experience will be solved over capacity of driving, in ordered increments, and familiarity will occur as driving occurs in different environments. Graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws are designed to set limits for young drivers by restricting passenger count in their car or prohibiting nighttime driving until having passed certain conditions.

From my own experience, I can give into my own perspective of how an accident, even a minor one, can have residual effects beyond that of a brief accident. When I think back to my high school days, I’m reminded of the serious basketball player I was then until I experienced a small ankle injury in a basketball game. I was moving along nicely with my recovery and physical therapy and was getting back on the court and getting to 100%, and then, I was rear-ended in my car when I was stopped at a stoplight. Initially, I figured it would be a minor collision. The damage to my car’s rear end looked minimal in comparison to the noise made during the impact. However, the snap from the impact seemed to cause my previously injured ankle to tweak once again. The short recovery time I thought I would have turned into weeks longer than I ever expected. Even now, I occasionally get a little work to the ankle if I put too much of a load on the ankle. The accident reminded me of how vulnerable we are as drivers and passengers and how the actions we take as other drivers can have detrimental effects on someone else’s life, health, and goals.

This experience reminded me about how important safe driving practices are, especially for young drivers. It only takes a second of diverted attention, a lapse in concentration, or even for someone to make a mistake that could create an accident that will affect the physical and emotional lives of others. That’s why knowing the rules of the road is not good enough; we need to collectively take the rules seriously, and routinely practice the rules of the road!

When observing safe driving with teens, there are many things that individuals, schools, and communities can do. For example, teens can become part of the decision by choosing and encouraging their peers to drive free from distraction. Schools, while they can offer driver safety programs in their health or life skills course, can also provide programming like having a mock crash, or guest speakers from a local police or emergency service. The community can provide free or low-cost driver education classes, sponsor workshops focusing on driver safety related to young people, and provide some family support for safe driving while providing opportunities for supervised driving.

Technology can assist safe behaviours behind the wheel. There are a number of apps and devices that monitor driver behaviours and track distracted driver detection, speeding, limitations on the use of their phones, and real-time feedback with parents or drivers. I don’t promote the use of technology as a substitute for instruction because technology doesn’t give the same experience and drive time. Nonetheless, I believe that if it is used in an intentionally positive way, technology can provide teens with tools to be accountable, and help with forming better driving habits.

Ultimately, safe driving for teens is not about passing a test or getting a licence, but to begin to create a culture of responsibility, awareness, and mutual respect behind the wheel. By working together to provide education, support, and to share our experiences, we can help limit the risks for young inexperienced drivers and in turn help make our roads a safer place for all.