Teen driver safety is a significant public issue due to the safety and risk concerns associated with driving in general. This is particularly pronounced among young people who are receiving their licenses, as they face significantly more inexperience compared to other seasonal drivers. While they have fast reaction times, this is not enough to prevent the dangerous situations they are potentially creating. Distractions are very dangerous, no matter the age and experience on the road; however, younger drivers often have more distractions available to them with various technologies. This is not helped if they have a role model who performs with bad, dangerous driving habits. Teaching inexperienced drivers through driver’s education can exponentially increase the experience that teen drivers have when on the road. Not only do these schools teach the core skills and knowledge needed to drive, but they will also have nuances that the inexperienced driver may face when not in familiar areas. One such uncommon traffic pattern is the roundabout. Being taught exactly what these are and how to navigate them, will prevent dangerous situations with other drivers who expect everyone around them to know how to approach them. Teaching inexperienced drivers about this and a lot of other nuances can help keep them safe, and everyone else on the road safe.
The biggest challenge that teen drivers face today is the increased distractions and stresses of life. New cars have large screens placed in them with access to smartphone features. While there are safety precautions with these screens, looking down to change songs, listening to music or opening up messages is time spent not looking at the road. Depending on the speed the driver is traveling at, multiple hundreds of feet can be traveled with no awareness. Overcoming this bad habit is quite easy, as most phones have a driving mode. Getting into the habit of using these features will block access to the distractions they may face when driving. Preventing distraction from changing music is also quite easy, as music apps provide a queue system where the user can select what order and songs they would like to listen to. Setting this up before each drive can help the teen drivers keep their eyes on the road. Young drivers will end up getting cars and licenses along with fellow drivers their age. When driving near a known peer on the road, they may feel pressured to speed if their peer as not to seem cowardly on the road. There are often situations where a teen driver will follow the speed limit, and their peer will call them a “slow grandma” because they were not able to keep up with them. A good way to prevent this peer pressure is to have a conversation with the peer if they are degrading them because of how they drive. Explaining the dangers can teach the peer why you drive safely and influence them in their decisions. If the problem persists, bringing in another person to discuss this issue with the peer will always help.
I witnessed a young driver make a terrible mistake while driving that could have been prevented with driver's education and more awareness. This inexperienced driver was making a left turn onto a lone-laneroad. There was another car traveling in the right lane, and I saw the person turning onto the road. They expected them to turn into the left lane and continued their speed. The young driver unexpectedly pulled into the right lane side side-swiping the driver. The car had major damage, but no one was hurt. Being aware of what lanes each car is in when turning on that road would have helped to prevent this accident. More experience on the road, and estimating the speed at which the car will cross their path, can also help in accurately getting to the right place to prevent an accident.
Communities can promote safer driving by having honest conversations with young, new drivers. Holding events in school would be the best way to do this. While the community can bring in people to give a lecture to the teen drivers, a more interactive approach would prove to be a more lasting impact. Providing trivia and rewarding those who know about driver safety would increase the positive stigma of safe driving. Providing a fun, safe environment to learn and interact with will stay with the younger drivers, and help them with their lack of experience. Everyone in the community can pitch in, and prizes can consist of fun add-ons to cars, and fashion centered around cars. Make the event interesting and a staple that makes people want to be there, and win the prizes. This will help them to better retain the knowledge.