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Prom, Graduation Season a Dangerous Time of Year for Teen Drivers

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It’s prom and graduation season, marking the beginning of a dangerous time of year for teen drivers.   A new study raises more concerns in regard to underage drinking and substance abuse.

One in four teens admits to driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana or other drugs and many believe it does not impact their safety according to Liberty Mutual and Students Against Destruction Decisions (SADD). While prom and graduation are listed as times this is more likely to happen, Fourth of July and summer driving in general are ranked as higher risk times by those teens surveyed.

Stephen Wallace is a senior advisor for SADD and an associate research professor at Susquehanna University, where he is the director of the Center for Adolescent Research and Education. He says the new study shows some disturbing trends.

Wallace  says with more than 13 million licensed teen drivers in the United States and almost one-quarter admitting to driving under the influence, it means as many as three million impaired teenagers may be taking to the road.

Wallace says there’s a need to refocus attention on the issue of impaired driving among teens. He says while more effort has been focused on prom and graduation, we can’t ignore the risks that exist once school lets out for summer and teens may have less supervision.

SADD is urging parents to have conversations with their teens about the dangers not only of drinking and driving, but underage drinking. Wallace says you can find resources at Libertymutual.com/teendriving.

Gov. Corbett Signs Teen Driver Safety Law

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She worked on the legislation for six years and, Tuesday, Rep. Kathy Watson (R-Bucks) was able to see the fruits of her labor.  “I wouldn’t have stayed with it this long if I truly didn’t believe we will save lives with this,” Watson said in an interview with Radio PA. 

Teen Driver Safety Law

Gov. Corbett has signed "Lacey's Law." It's named after Lacey Gallagher who was killed when a car carrying seven teens crashed on the way to a post-prom party in 2007. None were wearing seat belts.

The new law will limit junior drivers to one teenage passenger for their first six months behind the wheel, add 15-hours of nighttime and bad weather driving to driver training requirements and make seatbelt requirements a primary offense for drivers and passengers under the age of 18. 

By making seatbelt use a primary offense for minors, police officers will be able to stop a driver solely for that violation.  Governor Tom Corbett calls this the next step in keeping Pennsylvania children safe.  “Can we put them in that bubble and keep everybody completely safe, no.  But, every step is an improvement to that,” Corbett said while signing the new law at Harrisburg High School. 

Corbett also made it clear that cell phone legislation is on deck.  “The legislature has a texting bill,” Corbett said.  “I want that passed.  Can I be any clearer than that?” The mechanics of hand-held cellphone and texting while driving bans have long been a sticking point in the General Assembly.  Speaking on the House floor, Tuesday, Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) expressed his intention to pass separate bills to address hand-held cellphones and texting. 

Rep. Watson supports drivers’ cellphone bans, but says she left the language out of her teen driver safety bill because the issue affects all drivers.  “It doesn’t matter if you’re texting when you’re 18, or 38, or 68, it’s not safe,” Watson says.

Study Says First Month of “Solo” Driving Is a Risky Time For Teens

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Teens are 50% more likely to crash the first after they get their driver’s license than they are after a full year of driving on their own. That’s according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.  Three common mistakes; failure to reduce speed, inattention and failure to yield account for 57% of those crashes

Jenny Robinson of AAA Mid-Atlantic says teen drivers have certain issues they face when they’re inexperienced. She says there are certain types of crashes that occur with relatively high rates in the first months of licensed teen driving, but once they gain experience, those crash rates decline quickly.  One example is crashes involving left hand turns; they are more common for teens during the first few months of driving.

Robinson suggests parents ride with their newly licensed teens as much as possible and use every teachable moment. That includes offering tips on the road when the parent is driving and the teen is the passenger.

Robinson says the more practice the better, the more teaching the better.  Currently, Pennsylvania requires teens to have 50 hours of behind the wheel training before getting their license. A bill recently passed by the legislature would increase that to 65 hours.

Robinson says driving is an acquired skill that gets better with experience.  She says the judgment is not always there with a new driver to determine how fast car is coming, how much time and care they need to allow when making a turn and what the stopping distance is when they have to make a sudden stop.

You can see the full study at AAAfoundation.org and also view videos of teen drivers behind the wheel taken as part of the study. Those videos captured a number of close calls likely due to inexperience behind the wheel.