{"id":4804,"date":"2024-06-27T08:19:51","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T08:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kars4kids.org\/hub\/?p=4804"},"modified":"2024-06-27T08:19:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T08:19:51","slug":"teen-drivers-and-the-dangers-of-summer-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kars4kids.org\/hub\/teen-drivers-and-the-dangers-of-summer-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen Drivers and the Dangers of Summer Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teen drivers<\/a> hit the road as soon as school lets out for the summer. They\u2019ve been stuck in classrooms the entire school year and now they\u2019re tasting freedom. We get it\u2014we were all teenagers once upon a time\u2014but as parents, we are naturally concerned for our teenage drivers\u2019 safety. And with good reason. According to the CDC, motor vehicle accidents<\/a> are a leading cause of teenage deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With teens out driving in force, the danger only increases. Parents have good reason to be concerned for their safety. But how great is the threat our teenagers face? What exactly is the risk to our children from fatal car crashes?<\/p>\n

The breakdown looks like this:<\/p>\n

The greatest number of teenage deaths (48 percent) are due to unintentional injury. Motor vehicle accidents account for almost three quarters (73 percent) of those deaths. Fatal car crashes, meanwhile, spike over the summer months<\/a>, putting teen drivers at even greater risk.<\/p>\n

\"Teen<\/p>\n

Summer Car Accident Trends<\/h2>\n

While the numbers vary from state to state, the upward trend of teenage deaths due to summer car accidents holds steady. In an assessment of teenage drivers in New York for example, of the 473 teen drivers killed in car crashes from 2010 to 2019, 176 of them, (or a full 37 percent) died during the summer months.<\/p>\n

Is it any wonder then, that the days spanning from Memorial Day to Labor Day have been dubbed the \u201c100 Deadliest Days of Summer\u201d?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Teen Drivers Feel Empowered<\/h2>\n

Getting behind the wheel of a car, and going where they want to go, feels empowering to teen drivers. But the joy of freedom can lead to joy-riding. And that\u2019s something that we, as parents, just can\u2019t tolerate. Perhaps that\u2019s why more and more, parents are turning to driving tracking apps to keep their teens safe and instill good driving habits.<\/p>\n

A recent teen driving survey<\/a> by insurance company Progressive, suggests that while most parents feel good about their teenagers\u2019 driving abilities, more than half of them still take precautions to ensure their children\u2019s safety. Some key findings:<\/p>\n