Teen Safe Driving Week

The CDC reports that an average of six teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 are killed every day in car accidents in the United States. Teen drivers are three-times more likely to be involved in car accidents than those over the age of 20, and teen boys are twice as likely as girls to be driving when these accidents occur.

National Teen Safe Driving Week is October 15-22. Take this time to talk to your teen about safe driving habits that can help prevent their causing and being seriously injured or killed in an accident.

What Safe Driving Looks Like

Words alone won’t teach your kids how to drive responsibly. You have to model appropriate behavior if you really hope to reduce your child’s risk of dying in an accident.

Safe driving means:

• Never driving while intoxicated
• Refusing to use your cellphone, for any reason, while driving a car
• Keeping your full attention on the road at all times
  • No personal grooming
  • No eating or drinking
  • No adjusting the radio, switching CDs, or looking through a portable music device
• Keeping a 3-4 car gap between yourself and the vehicle in front of you
• Always using turn signals
• Refraining from aggressive behavior

Remember: Your actions as a driver, more than anything else, will inform how your child acts when driving a car. Take care to both model appropriate behavior and provide calm and useful pointers to your child to help prevent his or her involvement in an accident.

Sadly, even the safest of teen drivers cannot always prevent an accident. If your child is injured or killed by another driver’s negligence, Cohen & Dwin can help. Call us at 410-653-6000 for a free consultation at one of our Maryland offices. We have locations in Baltimore, Bel Air, Columbia, Ocean City, and surrounding areas of Maryland to better serve families living throughout the region.