Teen Safe Driving Research Paper

Teen Safe Driving

Car crashes are the leading death for teens in the U.S. More teens die in car crashes than from suicides and homicides combined. From Memorial Day to Labor Day in 2012, nearly 1,000 people were killed in crashes involving teen drivers. Teenage drivers account for more auto accidents than any other age group. Things that you can do to prevent crashes is keeping your cell phone off. Using a cell phone while driving is the equivalent of driving drunk. Don’t text. Texting on average causes a loss of focus on the road for five seconds. Obey the speed limit. It is tougher for inexperienced drivers to judge your speed and how long it will take to stop. Your reflexes may be sharp, but your interpretation of situations may
not. It takes time and practice to improve this. Speeding causes about 40% of all fatal teen accidents. You don’t need to keep up with traffic if it seems like everyone else is flying by. Driving a safe speed helps ensure your well-being, and keeps you away from costly traffic tickets. Minimize distractions. Eating, drinking, seeking through the radio, or playing music loudly while you’re cruising around town can cause your mind or vision to wander. And that can be enough for an inexperienced driver to lose control of your car, or not notice an obstacle in the road. Drive solo and having teen passengers. It’s natural to want to drive with the company of your friends, but doing so can be dangerous. Passengers can distract you, or cause you to drive more aggressively than you should. Having a single teen passenger in your car can double the risk of causing a car accident. Adding additional teen passengers causes the risk to escalate. Practice defensive driving. Always be aware of the traffic ahead, behind, and next to you, and have possible escape routes in mind. Keep a proper distance. Teens often overestimate their ability to stop their cars in time. Always maintain an adequate safety margin from the car ahead of you. The higher the speed, the more braking space you need. Stay at least one car length behind the car in front of you in slower speeds, and maintain a larger buffer zone with faster speeds. Choose a safe car. Look for something in the middle of the average lifespan of a car. Try not to get a new car. And not an ole car. Probably won’t handle well, won’t have the top safety features, and will be prone to breakdowns. Don’t choose a powerful, high-performance car, it is too easy to lose control of these vehicles as an inexperienced driver.
Avoid large cars, they can be a challenge to handle, especially in tight situations. Drive a safe car with the latest safety equipment. Such as anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, and air bags), and one with an excellent crash safety record. Taking unnecessary risks. It is risky enough to drive a car. But, when you compound this with foolish actions such as squeezing through an intersection on a yellow light, not checking your blind spots before switching lanes, and not using your turn signal, you ramp up your chances of causing car wrecks. Wear a seat belt. they can be restrictive and uncomfortable. But, they also play a critical role in eliminating injuries or reducing the severity of injuries you might sustain in a car wreck. Sometimes a seat belt even decides who survives a crash. Over correcting and other emergency errors. At times, you must swerve your car or quickly correct the direction of your wheels. Many times teen drivers over-compensate in these situations, and make a dangerous situation worse by losing control of their car. It’s difficult to master emergency handling skills, but you can easily learn to anticipate dangerous situations, which will limit the need to apply these emergency skills. Keeping a safe speed
helps too. Driving while tired. School. Homework. Jobs. Extracurricular activities. Volunteer work. Babysitting. Parties. These can all cause tiredness. As a teen, you need a lot of sleep more than most adults. Yet, your schedule may not let you get the rest your body and mind require. This leads to driving while drowsy, which delays reaction time, decreases awareness, and results in auto accidents. You may feel you’re fine to drive when you’re not, better to let someone else drive when you’re struggling to stay awake.