The AAA Foundation has recently published several excellent and important reports on teen drivers with passengers. I will talk about their most recent piece on passengers, “Characteristics of Fatal Crashed Involving 16- and 17-Year Old Drivers with Teenage Passengers,” http://www.aaafoundation.org/pdf/2012FatalCrashCharacteristicsTeenDriversAndPassengers.pdf, in my next blog posts. First, however, I want to highlight a footnote in this report, taken from the federal governments FARS (fatality statistics) database for 2005-2010, listing the “Improper actions and errors [of teen drivers] considered indicative of at least partial responsibility for the crash” — in other words, the things that teen drivers have done that have led to fatal crashes. Here is the list:
- aggressive driving
- failing to have lights on
- failing to dim lights when required
- operating without required equipment
- following improperly
- improper or erratic lane change
- failure to stay in lane
- driving on shoulder, sidewalk, or median
- improper entry or exit onto highway
- backing up improperly
- opening vehicle while in motion
- passing where prohibited
- passing on the wrong side
- passing with insufficient clearance or visibility
- failing to yield to overtaking vehicle
- operating in reckless, careless or negligent manner;
- speeding
- failure to yield right of way
- failure to obey traffic signs, traffic control devices, or law enforcement officers
- passing through or disregarding traffic barrier
- failing to observe warning signs on another vehicle
- failure to signal
- making an improper turn
- making a right turn from a left turn lane or left turn from right lane
- driving wrong direction on one-way road
- driving on wrong side of road
- driver inexperience
- driver lack of familiarity with road
- stopping in the road
- over-correcting in a spin or skid.
This list, I think, eloquently makes a very simple but critical point. In most states, teen drivers are eligible to obtain their license after 20-50 hours on the road. Many teen drivers get their license after taking Driver’s Ed and several weeks of training with a parent or guardian. But look at this list above and identify how many of these situations that led to fatal crashes do Driver’s Ed and parents NOT cover — because they can’t? The list underscores one of the four reasons why I say that “there is no thing as a safe teen driver”: as well intentioned as we can be as parents, we cannot nearly train a teen driver for the multitude of situations that he or she will face on the road. To become a safe driver, in the sense of having experienced and being prepared to respond to most of the most difficult situations that all drivers face on a regularly basis, takes several years, not hours or weeks. Newly licensed drivers have been taught the basics, but they are not anywhere near prepared for even a majority of the situations that can cause fatal crashes.
