Protecting Teenage Drivers: Distracted Driving and Prevention Strategies
Every year, the number of traffic accidents caused by distracted driving to increases. In 2021 alone, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 3,522 people died and more than 350,000 additional people were injured in vehicle accidents caused by distractions. What’s more, of all age groups at risk for distracted driving, teenagers top the list. In fact, one in three teens who text claim they have done so while driving, according to NHTSA.
Yikes!
While the risk to physical safety is obviously worrisome, distracted driving accidents also have financial consequences. Outside of physical and property damage costs due to these accidents, the increasing number of distracted driving incidents affects insurance coverage costs and risks cancellation.
Common Driving Distractions
“Distracted driving” refers to anything that diverts a driver’s attention at any age from the task at hand: driving safely from point A to B and beyond. Considering that teenage drivers are more inexperienced on the road than adults, distractions of any kind are dangerous.
Common causes for distracted driving include:
Mobile phones and texting — Mobile phones are a primary culprit for distracted driving, including making and receiving calls, reading or sending texts and using apps. Texting has been found to be the most dangerous because every text sent or read takes eyes off the road for an average of five seconds. According to the NHTSA, reading a text for five seconds while driving 55 miles per hour is comparable to driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. That’s pretty darn risky, to say the least.
Adjusting car controls — Anything from controlling the temperature in the car to changing radio stations often requires a driver to take their eyes off the road — even for a second — risking the safety of everyone in the car and vehicles around them. See the five-second comparison above. No thanks!
Fatigue or illness — Any impairment to a driver’s alertness or physical/mental ability to give full attention to the road and vehicle operations is a danger to road safety. If you don’t feel well enough to attend school or work, you probably shouldn’t be operating a vehicle.
Multitasking — Whether you’re driving and eating, brushing your hair or talking to other passengers, doing anything more than focusing on driving means that your attention is split between driving safely and another task. Driving safely and attentively should be priority over everything else.
These are just a few examples of the countless ways everyone on — or near — the road can be at risk by the driving distractions that can result in operational mistakes big and small.
The Impacts of Teenage Distracted Driving
While the impact to the safety of teen drivers, their vehicle occupants and others on or near the road is enough to be concerned about, distracted driving also presents significant financial risks. A record of distracted driving, such as being ticketed for texting while driving or an accident proven to be caused by distraction, makes you considered high risk with insurance carriers, often resulting in higher premiums or even cancelled coverage.
However, distracted driving incidents increase insurance costs even for those who haven’t had any accidents or a personal record related to distracted driving. As explained in our blog about rising property insurance premiums due to increasing natural disasters, everyone who is insured is part of a collective pool in the eyes of insurance companies. Within the auto insurance industry, actuaries are tasked with isolating the measurable characteristics of drivers within that pool to predict future claim costs. Because distracted driving happens within all age groups and has increased claims costs due to the frequency and severity of losses, it has a negative impact for the entire pool.
As insurance carriers continue to collect data on distracted driving, the ultimate goal is to isolate the most common characteristics of those involved with distracted driving claims until they can identify a specific demographics and/or persona related to the issue. Then, underwriters are able to generate guidelines for preventing the most risky individuals from existing within their insurance pool altogether and/or charge them higher rates. One common denominator already identified is, unfortunately, teenagers — one of the reasons why young drivers cost more to insure.
Preventing Distracted Driving Among Teenagers
As parents, we wish we could be all the places at once to help protect our kids, including sitting right next to teenagers as they drive to school. BUT, because we know that’s not realistic, here are some tips for talking with your teenagers about the dangers of distracted driving:
- First and foremost – TALK about it! You were a teenager at some point, so certainly you remember how much wiser you were than your parents…until the day you realized you really weren’t. Raise your invisible teenage-eye-rolling shield and forge forward with the conversation. Share the information above about taking your eyes off the road for five seconds. They’ll remember that!
- Set some road rules for driving and remind them that it’s a privilege to do so. Suggested guidelines: no phone use while behind the wheel, set a limit to the number of people who can be in the car while your teen is driving, taking breakfast on the road while driving to school is a no-go, etc.
- Consider downloading smartphone apps that block notifications while they (and you) are driving.
- Consider enrolling teen drivers in defensive driving courses, such as those offered online through the National Safety Council, the National Traffic Safety Institute or OSHA, to polish their awareness and smart driving skills for the road.
- Remind your young drivers that prioritizing safety over other distractions can not only be life-saving to them and their passengers/friends, but also for everyone else on the road and even pedestrians nearby. It only takes one small distraction to cause irreversible heartache and life-long regrets.
- Research additional ways to prevent distracted driving from resources like NHTSA, the CDC, National Safety Council, Iowa Department of Public Safety, etc.
Drive the Point Home: Staying Focused Matters
The best thing parents and caregivers can do for young drivers is to walk (drive?) the talk. Encourage EVERY driver in your house to follow the suggestions above! Leading by example is a great way to show you mean what you say and that being a focused driver is also being a smart driver.
