“Motor vehicle accidents (are) the leading cause of death among teens in Canada (CAA)
The high percentage of teens killed in motor accidents every year is not news. This trend seems to have been more or less consistent since the invention of the automobile. There are just some fundamental characteristics of a forming teen mind that makes operating motor vehicles that much more dangerous. The big factor is that generally teens feel they are invisible, especially teen males. This feeling of being untouchable is generally what leads youngsters to driving behaviors such as speeding, racing, and making more risky decisions like questionable lane changes or high-speed maneuvers. This is why insurance companies generally set rates significantly higher for young drivers, most notably because they have less driving experience and are more statistically likely to be involved in a motor accident.
Young drivers can combat both higher insurance rates and also reduce their own risk while driving by signing up with an accredited driving school. For about $750, Young Drives of Canada as an example will not only allow young drives to earn their license faster but will arm them with the tools necessary for collision free driving. What a lot of parents and adults don’t realize when they are driving is that they are a role model to the youngsters watching them and they are picking up their bad driving habits. Driving skills are learned, not inherited. Research has shown that 95% of parents believe they’re safe drivers, but 82% of teens report seeing their parents being careless when driving”. (Link)
Sixteen to twenty-five year olds constituted 13.6% of the population in 2010, but made up almost 33.4% of the impairment-related traffic deaths. Studies generally conclude that young drivers are over-represented in road crashes for two primary reasons: inexperience and immaturity. Although young people are the least likely to drive impaired, the ones who do are at very high risk of collision.
Young drivers currently represent a significant percentage of road crashes and are a leading cause of death among teenagers. The statistics for motor vehicle crashes and impairment-related crashes among young drivers can be quite alarming. Young drivers have the highest rates of traffic death and injury per capita among all age groups. They also represent the highest death rate per kilometer driven among all drivers under 75 years of age. More nineteen-year-olds die or are seriously injured than any other age group. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 16 to 25 year olds, and alcohol and/or drugs are a factor in 55% of those crashes.
