This spring C.A.R. came to central Nebraska to talk to students about the dangers of driving with distractions. Among the schools visited: Doniphan/Trumbull HS, Grand Island Sr HS, Franklin Jr/Sr HS and Northwest HS in Grand Island.
Many teen crashes occur in rural areas but there are also many crashes that simply involve distractions on city roads and highways. It’s important to understand the situations that create the highest risk for teen crashes:
- Night Driving (most teen crashes occur after 9pm, or going to/from school)
- Speeding (most teen crashes involve significantly increased speeds or going faster than weather conditions will allow for)
- Passengers (each passenger in a teen driver’s car significantly increases crash risks)
- High Risk Driving (teens have the lowest seat belt use and have a higher tendency to exhibit risky driving behavior)
- Distractions (any electronics, mobile devices, MP3 players, cd/dvd players, GPS systems- all of these can distract the driver from safely operating their vehicle).
- Cell Phones (most teens find it very difficult to ignore their cell phones while driving, yet this one device will cause the majority of distractions on the road).
Remember: The more time that you expose yourself one or multiple risk factors, the more likely you are to cause, be injured in or die in a motor vehicle crash. Teens (15-20yr olds) have 4 times increased risk of crashing, compared to other more experienced drivers. Add to that some of these other conditions and the results can be disasterous.
