Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
With teens hitting the streets for long holiday breaks over New Year’s, reviewing driver safety with your young driver is a good way to start the holiday.
The Chicago car accident lawyers at Abels & Annes encourage you to take a moment to discuss driver safety with your children to help them stay safe through the beginning of winter-driving season and the congested roads that will great us all this holiday season.
Statistics show teens are at increased risk of Chicago car accidents and drunk driving accidents in Illinois and across the nation this holiday season.
Illinois is a leader in educating teenagers about safe-driving habits. Parents and teenagers can find the state’s Teen Safe Driving Guide and a Parent and Teen Driving contract by clicking here.
Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 20. Nearly 1 in 5 licensed 16-year-olds is in a crash and the fatality rate for teenagers is up to 5 times higher that for drivers in their 30s, 40s and 50s, according to state statistics.
Lack of experience, greater risk taking and driving under the influence are factors associated with the higher traffic fatality rates for teenagers.
More than 300 young drivers ages 21 to 24 are involved in fatal crashes during the last half of December each year. One-third of the 1,710 deaths from 2002-2007 were the result of drunk driving accidents that claimed 649 lives, according the the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In Illinois during the 2007 Christmas-New Year’s Holiday, 214 young drivers were killed and almost half –92–were impaired.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in a 2005 study that 1 in 4 teens who died in a car accident was legally drunk. Three out of 10 teens reported riding in a car within the last 30 days with a driver who had been drinking.
Lessons in the teen safe-driving guide include: starting and stopping, turning, backing up, parking, changing directions, establishing right-of-way, changing lanes, managing intersections, following other vehicles, defensive driving, assessing highway conditions and passing, handling adverse driving conditions, and other useful safety information and rules of the road.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also offers a comprehensive teen-driver safety program available by clicking here.
If you teenager is injured in a Chicago car accident, the personal injury lawyers and wrongful death attorneys at Abels & Annes offer free appointments to discuss your rights. Call (866) 99-ABELS. There is no fee unless you win.