As parents, your main priority is your children’s safety. When your child becomes a teenager and is ready to practice their independence and drive on their own, you have the right to be concerned. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), six teenagers in the U.S. die in car accidents every day, and car accidents are the leading cause of death for teens between 16 and 19.

While car accidents can happen anywhere at any time and can still impact you no matter how safe your driving is, you still may be able to reduce the risk of getting into an accident by understanding the dangers of driving and how to practice safe habits. By educating your teen on the causes of teen crashes and what to do if they ever get into an accident, you can prepare them for a safer future on the road.

Causes of Teen Car Crashes

There are a variety of factors that can contribute to car accidents, but when it comes to accidents involving teens, there are a few common causes to be aware of.

Common causes of collisions include:

  • Driver inexperience: Teens are new drivers, and even having hundreds of hours of training under your belt won’t completely prepare you for some real-life driving situations you can find yourself in. Teens can still make new driver mistakes, such as failing to check their blind spots before changing lanes or making a left turn when they don’t have the right of way.

  • Driving at night: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that almost 60% of all teen car accident fatalities occur between 6 PM and 6 AM, even though there are fewer cars on the road during that time. Teens may not have experience navigating roads the night or may not know how to properly use their lights.

  • Driving under the influence: Teens are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, which includes driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Impaired driving can include symptoms like reduced reaction times and reckless behaviors like lane drifting and running red lights.

  • Distracted driving: It’s fairly common for teens to be texting, taking phone calls, and chatting with their friends while driving. While they may think they can do several things at once, distracted driving diverts driver attention from the road and can prevent them from reacting to road hazards in time.

What to Do If You’ve Been in an Accident

Unfortunately, car accidents do happen to even the most cautious drivers. If your teen understands the steps they need to take after an accident, they can receive the treatment they need and have the evidence required if you wish to file a personal injury claim.

Steps to take after an accident include:

  • Pulling over to the side of the road

  • Calling for authorities to respond to the accident and file a crash report

  • Collecting driver information and taking photos of all damage

  • Seeking medical attention

  • Contacting a personal injury attorney to handle the investigation and all future communication with insurance companies

What Parents Can Do

While you can’t completely prevent your child from car accidents caused by other drivers’ negligence, you can reduce risk beyond educating your teen. The CDC recommends that parents help their newly licensed teens with at least 30 hours of supervised driving practice in different locations and at different times of the day. Another tip is that parents can set a curfew so their teens aren’t driving at night.

Committed to Serving Our Community

Our team is committed to helping victims of negligence recover and achieve the justice and compensation they deserve for their suffering. While we work with many clients who have been involved in car accidents and other MVA accidents involving motorcycles and trucks, we also help those with boating, pedestrian, product liability, premises liability, work-related, and wrongful death cases. Whether the at-fault party is another driver, company, or larger entity, we can gather the evidence needed to help them accountable – we’re not daunted by the possibility of going up against a large company. You deserve a personal injury lawyer who can put your well-being first.

Call (941) 979-9010 or contact us online if you’ve been injured in a car accident due to another driver’s careless actions. At Frohlich, Gordon & Beason, P.A., our car accident attorneys offer personalized counsel and free consultations to give our clients convenience during an inconvenient time.