Orlando Personal Injury Lawyer - Teenage Drivers

What else can we do to get teens to wear seatbelts?

Sandy Grinnell — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:48:58 GMT

In another tragic auto accident, a Central Florida teen lost her life after she was thrown from a vehicle driven by another teenage girl. The teenage driver remains in serious condition after she was pulled from the burning wreckage.

The seventeen year old who died was the daughter of a Winter Haven police lieutenant and the driver was the daughter of Polk county firefighter. It was reported that neither teenager was wearing her seat belt.

Now you know that these emergency responders must have preached regularly to their daughters that wearing seat belts is not an option because they save lives. There are also state and nationally sponsored programs to promote teen driver safety such as National Teen Driver Safety Week, a governors' sponsored program, Take the Wheel, a safe teen driving website designed by the from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and programs at the local high schools promoting safe teen driving. It seems that nothing any one says or does seems to get through to them that seat belts save lives.

What are you telling your teens when the leave the house with the keys to the car? Are they listening? We can only hope so.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sandy Grinnell

Florida Launches New Website Aimed at Teen Drivers - Is Your High School Aware of It?

Sandy Grinnell — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:34:00 GMT

Earlier this month the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) launched its new website, TakeTheWheel.net , developed by teens for teens. The website challenges teenage drivers to take charge when they are behind the wheel and not let outside influences effect they way they drive.

"Learning good driving habits from the beginning is essential," said Director of the Florida Highway Patorl, Colonel John Czernis. "It is up to parents, teachers, law enforcement officers and other teens to stress to new drivers that with the privilege of driving comes a great amount of responsibility."

The very first page has the following message:

Every 55 seconds a teenager is injured in a car crash
Every 6.5 minutes a teenager is killed in a car crash

The website also offers teens tips on safe driving habits, testimonials from other teens on the consequences of auto accidents, and a road rules driving quiz, as well as a host of other information. It also gives teens a place to post their own driving experiences, either in video or text format.

What's a little disappointing is that I had heard nothing about the new site until I was researching Teenage Driving Safety Week. Have you heard about the website from your local newspaper, your teenager or through the local high school? If not, I think they are missing a chance to promote teenage safe driving through a medium with which they are so familiar.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sandy Grinnell

Insurance Institute Recommends Higher Legal Driving Age

Sandy Grinnell — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:42:06 GMT

After reviewing years of statistics on traffic-related teen deaths, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is recommending that states raise the legal driving age to 17, or even 18. According to the IIHS, car crashes are the number one cause of deaths in teens and they feel increasing the age to 17 or 18 would save lives.

The IIHS report points to statistics from the state of New Jersey where the driving age has been 17 for several years and the rate of 16 and 17 teenage deaths were 18 per 100,000. In neighboring Connecticut, where the minimum driving age is 16, the rate is 26 deaths per 100,000.

"This is a tough sell," says Anne McCartt, Institute senior vice president for research, "but it's an important enough issue to challenge the silence and at least consider changing the age at which we allow teenagers to get their licenses to drive. After all, graduated licensing has been successful ever since states began to adopt these programs more than a decade ago, and raising the licensing age is a logical next step to reduce driving by the riskiest motorists on the road, the youngest ones."

According to the Washington Post:

More than 5,000 U.S. teens die each year in car crashes. The rate of crashes, fatal and nonfatal, per mile driven for 16-year-old drivers is almost 10 times the rate for drivers ages 30 to 59, according to the National Highway Safety Administration. Many industrialized countries in Europe and elsewhere have a driving age of 17 or 18.

Many states have initiated strict graduated driver''s licenses which they believe are saving lives. Getting the state legislatures to increase the age to 17 will be difficult and it will be an uphill battle with most parents and the teenagers. Teenagers want their freedom and a lot of parents look forward to dropping "chauffeur" from their list of parental responsibilities.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sandy Grinnell