Motor vehicle accidents involving teenagers are commonplace. Ohio teens remain the most at-risk group when it comes to being involved in a traffic crash. According to the Ohio Highway Patrol, from 2010-2012, teen drivers were at fault in over 100,000 traffic crashes, resulting in 44,458 injuries and 299 deaths on Ohio’s roadways. Teen drivers were at fault in 10% of all fatal crashes during the same time period.
The OHP reports that 57% of crashes caused by teenagers involved speeding. Similarly, between 2010 and 2012, 62% of traffic citations issued to teen drivers were for speeding. Other causes of teen crashes include: texting while driving, drunk driving and distracted driving while traveling with other teenage passengers. In addition, teen drivers are inexperienced and at times can make poor decisions.
The OHP and the Ohio High School Athletic Association have teamed up to launch an awareness campaign about the risks of teenager driving. You can join (or more importantly have your teen join) here: https://www.facebook.com/teendriversareincontrol.
Another good resource for reminding teens to think while behind the wheel is the Save 11 campaign: https://www.facebook.com/save11. This campaign was based on studies showing that motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among teens in America, accounting for 11 deaths per day. We need to put the brakes on these statistics. Please help by encouraging kids to “like” these pages. In doing so, they will receive poignant reminders each week that they are not indestructible and accountability matters.
