Driving is a right of passage. It is a way of earning freedom, earning a living, and getting access to your friends and things you want to do.
Driving is also a risk and for teens it’s riskier than it is for adult drivers. Teens aged 15-19 are involved in more crashes as a group every year than any other age group, precentage wise (see NHTSA facts). And it’s not because new drivers aren’t trying to be safe; it’s partially due to other factors that work against you.
Brain Development
Your brain is still developing all the way through about age 22. As such the regions of your brain that deal with weighing consequences and measuring risk are not fully developed. Does that mean you can’t make a good decision? No, but you are more susceptible to doing things that ‘feel right’ versus understanding the clear consequences of taking risks.
A good example: A 16 yr old boy is driving his dad’s SUV on the way home from practice and at a red light one of his buddies also stops at the light. They look at each other, pump their accelerators, laugh and take off at a high rate of speed when the light turns green. Now think about that same scenario except that the 2 people involved are in their 40’s and just left work. Does it seem likely that those 2 would have the same notion to race at a light? Probably not.
Understand that anyone can have poor judgement or do something behind the wheel that increases risk to themselves and others. Also understand that when you take a risk while driving you are not asking if all the other people around you are OK with you racing your friend or sending a quick text as you drive down the road. If you did ask other drivers they would tell you, ‘Absolutely not’. So, pretending that it’s ok or acting like getting away with it is fun or cool somehow is not being real about how much risk you are creating.
One last thought on this subject: how many times have you heard of a news story about a car full of adults who were joyriding at a high rate of speed and then tragically crash killing most or all of the people inside? Probably none at all or very few. But how many crashes do you hear about involving teen drivers and occupants that end in tragedy? Especially in the summer months during a school break? The older you get and the more developed your brain becomes the likelihood of this sort of chance-taking decreases.
Experience
It takes about 7-10 years to become a ‘proficient’ driver. That is not an expert but someone who has seen enough poor road conditions and driven in them to know what to do in dense fog, ice and snow, hail or rain. Enough time to have experienced other drivers who have slammed on their brakes in front of you unexpectedly, ran through a red light in front of you, or drifted out of their lane while texting- all experiences one may face with years of driving that helps you know what to do when faced with the unexpected and react appropriatley.
So as you learn and become more confident in your skills, you may also lower your inhibition about how ‘good;’ you actually are and take chances because you believe more and more that you can handle just about anything.
People who drive for a living will tell you; you can never feel ‘relaxed’ and be safe. You always have to be aware, be safe and watch out for other drivers. Experience teaches you that, sometime in a harsh way.
Passengers in the car
It’s a fact that every teen riding in your car raises your risk of crashing by a factor of 4. Teens alone are 4x more likely to die in a crash every day than people in their 30’s but a teen with a single friend in the car increases crash risk to 8x. Two friends increase it again, and so on.
And it’s not because your friends are trying to distract you but rather it’s because as a young person you are highly social. When an adult leaves a room full of teems the noise level instantly will rise. That is the same in a car and if you are driving you will still want to participate in talk about school, friends, and share jokes. Being social is natural.
But that interaction is also distracting, and it makes you as the driver feel less inhibition. Those 2 factors together make passengers in the car who are the same age group (teen) as dangerous as many cell phone related distractions. Both distractions compound the issue even more (see this article).
That’s why in most states they will limit non-family member passengers for new drivers to zero for the fist six months of driving, as well as prohibit any electronics usage and require all occupants wear a seat belt.
The good news is that as you become a more proficient driver over this time, having other experienced drivers in the vehicle with you will statistically increase your overall safety because those experienced drivers will be watching the road with you and tell you when they see danger. This is far less common for younger passengers.
Cell Phone Distractions
Likely the biggest danger on the road for teen and adult drivers is distractions caused by smart phones. Why? Because everyone has one and everyone believes that he/she is a ‘good driver’ regardless of this behavior.
Teens have it worse because you are also not weighing the consequences of driving distracted like an adult would. You may have other distracted teens in the car with you as well and none of you are proficient yet at driving.
So given that there is a cell phone in 99% of all cars on the road and that this one device, whether it’s in your hand or synced to the video screen on your vehicle’s center console, causes as many crashes as drinking and driving, every year.
Just talking on your phone will impair you as much someone who is driving at .08% BAC (which is legally drunk in all 50 states). Skeptical? Watch this video to learn more.
Using a cell phone while you drive creates a risk called Inattention Blindness that can cause you to run through a light, rear end another car or drive into a fixed object without even realizing it.
So, in order to be a responsible driver, rather than being responsible for causing harm or death in an avoidable crash, the only smart thing to do is to ignore the phone until your drive is ended. Anything short of this GREATLY increases risk and adds to the thousands of distracted driving crashes that take place every year and increase teen crash deaths.