October 16 to 22 is National Teen Driver Safety Week. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drivers aged 15 to 20 are involved in three times as many fatal car crashes as other drivers. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for teens.

Teens have the physical ability and the reflexes to be good drivers but inexperience, combined with the same unsafe driving behaviors of adult drivers, result in the tragic loss of young lives. Research has identified these factors in unsafe teen driving:

  • Speeding
  • Distracted driving, particularly cell phone use and texting but also distractions from other passengers
  • Drunk driving or drug use while driving
  • Driving while drowsy
  • Failing to wear a seat belt

Although Arizona teens can't legally drink, accident statistics show that they are drinking and they are riding in vehicles with other teens who have been drinking. In a 2006 nationwide study of fatal car crashes involving teens, 31 percent of the drivers had been drinking.

While seat belt use has greatly increased for all age groups, teens lag behind others in consistent use of safety restraints. In a 2009 study of fatal car and truck accidents involving teens, more than half were not wearing seat belts. Young males, pickup truck drivers and passengers, and teens living in rural areas are the least likely to buckle up.

What can parents do? The NHTSA website offers guidance on keeping teen drivers safe.

  • Set an example by driving safely and using a seat belt yourself. Insist your teen use a seat belt whenever he or she is in the car with you.
  • Talk to your teen about safety and set firm rules, such as always buckle up and no talking or texting while driving
  • Limit the number of passengers your teen can have in the car with him or her to one
  • Set a curfew. Teen driver accidents occur more often after dark.
  • Establish consequences for your child when he or she breaks the rules.

To learn more about teen driver safety programs, take a look at the NHTSA website. Arizona parents, schools and communities can work together to keep young people safe.