Teenage motor-vehicle accidents in Florida and nationwide occur for many reasons including a teenager’s immaturity, lack of skill, driving inexperience, use of alcohol and drugs, and the fact that they like to participate in risk-taking behaviors. Sadly, teen crashes rank higher than any other age group due to the following primary factors:

Distracted Driving

Teenagers are the most likely to text while driving. They also engage in talking on the phone, reading emails, browsing social media sites, grooming, and eating. Doing any of these behaviors can cause a crash. Sadly, many teens feel like they are good at driving while distracted; however, statistics prove otherwise since traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and text messaging increases a driver’s risk for a wreck by 23 times, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Also, teens are more likely to crash when they are transporting other teens because passengers contribute to driver distractions.

Poor Ability to Recognize Hazardous Situations

Teens have a hard time recognizing dangerous situations and detecting hazards while they are driving. This is because it takes a person time to acquire this ability and teens are new drivers who are still trying to learn how to identify these hazardous situations. Unfortunately, most teens lack risk perception, prohibiting them from assessing the degree of a threat on the road.

Engage in Risky Behaviors

Teen drivers often participate in risk taking while driving, which includes speeding, running stop signs and traffic signals, making illegal turns, failing to yield, tailgating, and passing dangerously. Not only do teens participate in risky behaviors, but they have the lowest rate of seat belt use compared to other age groups.

If your teenage son or daughter suffered an injury in a Florida auto accident caused by another teen driver, please call a skilled Sarasota injury lawyer at Mallard Perez at 888-409-3805 for a complimentary consultation today.

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