[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/you-wont-believe-what-teens-do-behind-the-wheel\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/you-wont-believe-what-teens-do-behind-the-wheel\/","headline":"You Won’t Believe What Teens Do Behind the Wheel","name":"You Won’t Believe What Teens Do Behind the Wheel","description":"One reason parents worry when their teen gets his or her driver\u2019s license is that they won\u2019t be there when the teen is behind the wheel. They fear that the teen could easily make a mistake or use poor judgment that results in a serious\u00a0car accident. A recent study of...","datePublished":"2015-08-03","dateModified":"2026-02-04","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/author\/dsslaw\/#Person","name":"Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/author\/dsslaw\/","identifier":12,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645d493126a7be6f90be911a6e7d4382c0cd63874673097832081394c8bcf8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645d493126a7be6f90be911a6e7d4382c0cd63874673097832081394c8bcf8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/bg-logo.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/bg-logo.jpg","width":192,"height":90}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/teens-behind-the-wheel.png","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/teens-behind-the-wheel.png","height":"449","width":"600"},"url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/you-wont-believe-what-teens-do-behind-the-wheel\/","about":["Car Accidents"],"wordCount":723,"articleBody":"One reason parents worry when their teen gets his or her driver\u2019s license is that they won\u2019t be there when the teen is behind the wheel. They fear that the teen could easily make a mistake or use poor judgment that results in a serious\u00a0car accident.A recent study of teen driving behavior shows that parents have good reason to be concerned.Teen drivers regularly engage in the kinds of careless and\u00a0reckless driving behaviors that cause terrible car accidents every day, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports in the study, \u201cUsing Naturalistic Driving Data to Assess the Prevalence of Environmental Factors and Driver Behaviors in Teen Driver Crashes.\u201dStudy Shows Teen Drivers Engage in Dangerous BehaviorFor the study, the AAA Foundation used in-car video cameras to analyze thousands of crashes involving teen drivers. Researchers examined behaviors and potential contributing factors in the seconds leading up to the accidents.In about half or more of all\u00a0teen driver crashes\u00a0studied, the young driver engaged in some kind of dangerous behavior just prior to the crash. For instance:In 79 percent of single-vehicle crashes, the teen was driving too fast for conditions or speeding. In 66 percent of all crashes, the teen driver made a decision error such as failing to yield the right of way, running a stop sign or driving too fast. In 58 percent of all crashes, the driver was inattentive or engaged in some other non-driving-related activity \u2013 in other words,\u00a0driving distracted. This behavior contributed to:89 percent of road-departure crashes76 percent of rear-end crashes51 percent of angle crashes44 percent of loss-of-control crashes.In 43 percent of angle crashes (also called side-impact accidents or T-bone collisions), the teen driver failed to yield to another vehicle.Teens were found to have been following too closely in 36 percent \u2013more than one third \u2013 of rear-end crashes.According to the AAA Foundation, 58 percent of teens were distracted at the time of their crash. This indicates a much higher incidence of distracted driving among teens than the federal government\u2019s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regularly reports.According to the AAA Foundation, the NHTSA reports that 14 percent of all crashes are caused by distracted driving. The NHTSA states that 10 percent of all drivers between ages 15 and 19 involved in\u00a0fatal\u00a0crashes are distracted.Types of Distracted Driving by TeensThe most frequent potentially distracting behaviors among teen drivers analyzed in the AAA Foundation study included:Talking to or otherwise interacting with a passenger 15%Visibly using a cell phone 8%Looking at or manipulating something out of camera view 4%Two telling points about teens engaged in distracted driving stand out:In more than half of the rear-end crashes involving cell phone use that were looked at by researchers, the teen driver exhibited\u00a0no reaction at all\u00a0before impact.Drivers operating or looking at cell phones looked away from the road ahead of them excessively. In fact, on average, the teen driver looked away for 4.1 seconds out of final the 6 seconds before the crash.One positive fact reported in the study was that the teen driver was seen wearing a seatbelt in 93 percent of all crashes.Teens Need to Learn Accountability for Distracted DrivingThe AAA Foundation suggests that the results of its study can be used to develop education, training and changes in technology that are aimed at reducing teen drivers\u2019 crash risk.As\u00a0personal injury\u00a0car accident attorneys, we frequently advise clients that teen drivers can and should be held accountable when they cause car accidents. Errors happen and are part of the learning process. Teaching that errors have consequences is an important part of learning as well.Beyond educating teen drivers by holding them accountable, we believe people who have been injured by negligent drivers of any age deserve to be compensated for their losses.If you are the parent of a teen driver, we urge you to discuss this AAA Foundation study with him or her. You should also remind your teen that the victim of any auto accident they cause is very likely to be represented by an attorney who will be intent on making the client financially whole.If you have been in a car accident caused by a negligent teenage driver,\u00a0contact Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., today for a free discussion of how we can help you."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"You Won’t Believe What Teens Do Behind the Wheel","item":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/you-wont-believe-what-teens-do-behind-the-wheel\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]