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Teens Behind the Wheel
Family Circle, May 2007
July 1, 2006 was a scorching-hot day in Rockville, Maryland. Sixteen-year-old Sara Torabian, her nine-year-old brother Iman, her twenty-year-old cousin Omar, and some friends went to cool off at the local pool. After their swim, the group decided to go to Taco Bell for lunch. They divided themselves into three cars. Sara strapped her little brother into a seat belt in the back of her Solara. A friend sat up front with Sara, who led the caravan.
As they were driving along a two-lane residential street not far from Sara’s house, Omar raced up from behind and tried to cut in front of her. Annoyed, Sara accelerated to keep him from passing her. Omar hit the gas and veered into oncoming traffic. A car approached, headed straight at him. Omar slammed on the brakes and fell back behind Sara. To get back at him she stepped on her brakes. Before she knew what was happening, Omar had rear-ended her. Sara’s car started spinning, hit a tree, and flipped onto its side. Omar’s car spun out too, hitting parked cars on both sides of the street.
Incredibly Sara, her little brother, the boy in her passenger seat, and Omar all climbed out of their totaled cars, unhurt. Sara’s first thought was of her god-sister, who’d died in a drinking-and-driving accident one year ago that day. Her first call was to her parents.
"When we saw her car wrapped around that tree, her mother and I were so scared," says 56-year-old Ali Torabian, who lost his own brother in a car accident just before Sara was born. "I told her that even though the accident wasn’t entirely her fault, she was going to have to follow new rules in her car." Sara’s parents forbade her to talk on the phone, listen to loud music, or be out past midnight. Sara was accepting of the restrictions her parents imposed, and grateful to be alive. She decided to turn her gratitude into action.
"The combination of losing my god-sister in a crash and having my own accident motivated me to share my experience with other teenagers," Sara says. She joined her school’s chapter of "Every 15 Minutes" (named for the frequency with which American youths die in car accidents), a national program that encourages teen driving safety by re-enacting collisions, including mock funerals, on high school campuses.
Sara’s dad got involved, too. In the fall of 2006 he and Sara attended a three-day conference in Chicago organized by Keep The Drive, a teen-led driving education program. Sara went to workshops with other teens to learn how to educate their peers. Her dad met with other parents.
There they learned that traffic accidents (the fifth most common cause of death for adults, after heart disease, stroke, cancer, and pulmonary disease) are the leading cause of death for American teenagers. Sixteen teenagers a day–six thousand teens each year–die that way, ten of them in cars driven by themselves or other teens. In 2005, 7,460 fifteen-to-twenty-year-old drivers were behind the wheel in fatal crashes; another 281,000 were injured.
Since the conference, Sara has remained a member of Keep The Drive: making public service announcements in the TV studio at school, writing articles for the school paper, speaking to high school freshmen and sophomores before they start to drive. Her dad continues to look for opportunities to educate other parents. "Most parents don’t have the facts they need to keep their teenagers safe," Ali explains.
Experts agree. And although there are different points of view about what parents can do to protect their teens from car accidents [see box below], there’s wide consensus that parents don’t correctly assess the dangers their kids face every time they climb into a car. A 2007 study by the Allstate Foundation found that 49% of parents incorrectly name driving drunk as the main cause of teen crashes. In fact, the majority of accidents involving teenage drivers are caused by driver error, speeding, and the distractions of cell phones and unruly passengers.
"Most parents won’t let their kids get behind the wheel if they’ve been drinking. But those same parents will let their kids drive with a bunch of other teens in the car, which has been shown to dramatically increase the likelihood of an accident," says Dr. Laurence Steinberg, Professor of Psychology at Temple University and author of The 10 Basic Principles of Good Parenting. A 2006 study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety confirms that teen drivers carrying one teen passenger face double the risk of a fatal crash as teens driving alone. That risk increases to five times as likely for teen drivers with two or more passengers.
"The environment inside the vehicle is very different from what adults might expect," says Laurette Stiles, Vice President for Strategic Resources at State Farm Insurance. But it’s not just parents who are unaware of the factors that put teens most at risk. In an April 2007 survey by AAA and Seventeen Magazine, nearly half of the 1,000 teen drivers surveyed said they text message and talk on cell phones while they drive; 58% drive with other teens in the car; 40% speed; 11% use drugs or drink before driving.
Why do teens take chances with their own lives? "Risky behavior is higher during adolescence because of two interrelated changes in the brain," Dr. Steinberg says. "First, there are dramatic changes in the system in the brain that processes pleasure. These changes make teens seek exciting and thrilling experiences, like driving fast.
"Second, the brain systems that regulate impulses and improve self-control don’t fully mature until young adulthood. Exciting the first system before the second system is mature is like starting the engine without a skilled driver behind the wheel."
At age 18, Lauren Hashiguchi of Beaverton, Oregon has had painful first-hand experience with reckless driving–and with its consequences. When she was four years old, her grandfather was killed by a teenage driver who ran a red light. More recently, a member of her church youth group was killed in an accident. That prompted Lauren to become a local leader of Keep The Drive. She has spoken with Beaverton’s Youth Advisory Board, broadcast lunchtime driving safety announcements over her school’s PA system, and is now organizing a teenage Battle of the Bands concert to raise awareness of reckless driving.
"When you’re a teenager you don’t think past the next second, or what might happen," Lauren says. "You’re new to driving. It’s still exciting. You want to be the one who’s taking chances. It’s easy to forget you’re learning as you go. But when you have a new situation behind the wheel, you don’t know how to handle it."
Robin Thompson of Alexandria, Virginia knows this for the most tragic of reasons. On a bright, sunny day in June, 2003, her sixteen-year-old daughter Ashley–a competitive gymnast, straight-A student, and the most responsible teenager anyone knew–was driving home from school when, for reasons that remain unknown, she lost control of her car. With only a few months’ driving experience, she overcorrected, put the car into a skid, and crashed into a tree. Ashley died at the scene. The police confirmed that Ashley had been wearing her seat belt, had no alcohol or drugs in her system, and hadn’t used her cell phone in the car.
Robin still struggles with grief she describes as "a searing physical pain that never goes away." Months after Ashley’s death, she started The A.R.T. (Awareness, Responsibility, Training) of Driving, a website and one-woman speaker’s bureau. "We’re losing sixteen to twenty of our kids a day in this country," she says. "That’s a national health crisis. People blame it on irresponsible teenagers, but statistically that’s not the whole picture. My daughter didn’t die because she was irresponsible. She died because she was inexperienced." Thompson draws in a ragged breath. "If it could happen to Ashley, it could happen to anyone’s child."
Keep The Drive and other peer programs are predicated on the belief that teenagers are more likely to take each other’s advice than their parents’. Lauren says that’s true, but parents have a vital role to play. "Parents need to be an example for their kids," she says. "If you take chances when you drive, your kids will, too. And even when it seems like teenagers aren’t listening, parents should set down the rules and enforce them. They need to tell their kids when they get their license, ‘You have the ability to change someone’s life, and your own, by making one mistake in your car.’"
"Parents have more control than they appreciate," agrees Anne McCartt, senior vice president of research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). "Surveys have shown that teens do place importance on the rules parents set." McCartt adds that another misconception held by many parents relates to which cars are safest for their kids to drive. "Parents tend to think that an SUV or pickup truck is safe because it’s big," she says. "But they have a higher tendency to roll over. Also, it’s a mistake to tempt teens with the cars they often beg for: the ones that go very fast. We recommend midsize or large sedans. Around here we say that a teen’s first car should be ‘Big And Boring.’"
Another risk factor parents may not be aware of, McCartt says, is time of day. "We did a study to see when teen accidents were most prevalent," she says. "We saw dramatic spikes right before and right after school. Even if they’re not engaging in risky behaviors at those times, as they might be on weekends or at night, the sheer number of inexperienced teens on the road creates higher risk."
Allan Williams, retired chief scientist for the IIHS, believes that the single most important way for parents to keep their teenagers safe is to be involved with their licensing process. "This is not something that can be outsourced," Williams says. "Driver education can provide a good starting base, but research shows clearly that driver’s ed doesn’t produce drivers who are less likely to be in motor vehicle crashes. Parents need to provide extensive supervised practice, and monitor the driving of their teen once he or she is licensed."
Along with parental supervision, Williams says, graduated licensing [see box below] is a must. Several studies, he says, have found that GDL programs reduce crashes among 16-year-olds by twenty to thirty percent.
"Simply educating your kids about how to drive is unlikely to be sufficient," Dr. Steinberg agrees. "Whether or not you live in a state with graduated licensing laws, it’s a good idea to establish your own rules, and transition your kids into full driving privileges over a period of time."
Every parent of a teenager with a driver’s license has experienced the pride and the terror of handing your child the keys to a three-thousand-pound vehicle. Knowing what to say and do to increase your teen’s safety on the road–setting and enforcing the most appropriate rules, finding the right balance between control and trust, choosing the safest car–is something every parent must figure out based on the particularities of the teenager and the situation. But by educating themselves about teen driving risks and how to minimize them, parents can reduce their kids’ chances of learning about the dangers of driving the hard way.
"Reckless driving used to seem minor to me," Sara Torabian concludes.
"But now I know it’s major. When you’re driving faster than
the speed limit, talking on the phone, listening to loud music, you’re
not looking out for reckless drivers. You are one of those drivers."
She pauses. "Thanks to my accident, I’ll never be one of them again.
And neither will any of my friends."
SIDEBAR #1
STATES WITH THE MOST STRINGENT GRADUATED LICENSING LAWS (GDLs)
Graduated licensing is a system that requires beginning drivers to gain their initial driving experience under low-risk conditions. The three stages of GDL are:
1) A supervised learner’s period;
2) An intermediate license (once the driving test is passed) that limits unsupervised driving in high-risk situations;
3) A full-privilege license.
Licensing systems vary from state to state. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety evaluates and rates each state’s GDL in several categories including Minimum Entry Age, Learner’s Holding Period, Night Driving Restriction, and Passenger Restriction.
The following states earned the Institute’s highest rating ("good"), and–unlike many "good"-rated states which offer permits to teens as young as 14–also require that teens entering the learner’s period be at least 16.
New Jersey
Connecticut
Delaware
Washington, DC
Kentucky
Massachusetts
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
SIDEBAR #2
RESOURCES FOR TEENS AND PARENTS
1) ORGANIZATIONS FOR TEENS
Keep the Drive
Sponsored by Allstate Insurance, Keep The Drive is a national teen-led movement dedicated to educating their peers about traffic safety. The organization sponsors conferences, local events, and community programs. On the website teens can get information about how to join Keep The Drive and about how accidents happen ("Looking for ways to screw up the rest of your life? Find out how!"). They can share experiences ("Ever had a scary experience in a car? Share what happened"), take a driving safety quiz ("If your date tries to impress you by speeding, would you go out with them again?") and watch safety videos ("Make little decisions not to die.").
Every 15 Minutes
The organization’s mission: "To prevent impaired driving tragedies and to save lives by building and supporting a national network of organizations with similar missions." Offered in schools and communities across the country, Every 15 Minutes offers real-life experience without the real-life risks: an emotionally charged program that challenges students to consider the consequences of unsafe driving.
Project Ignition
Sponsored by State Farm Insurance and coordinated by the National Youth Leadership Council, PI offers students in grades 9-12, teachers, and parents ways to work together for teen driver safety. Students submit safe driving campaign ideas to project sponsor State Farm; grant recipients get $2000 to fund campaigns at their schools.
Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
Formerly Students Against Driving Drunk, SADD’s mission is: "Students helping students make positive decisions about challenges in their everyday lives." SADD provides students with prevention and intervention tools to deal with the issues of underage drinking, impaired driving and other destructive decisions. The organization sponsors a speaker series, national conference, and a national student-of-the-year contest, and publishes the SADD Manual.
Youth in Action
A community-based high school program of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), YIA focuses on underage drinking and driving. "Instead of targeting high school students with a message, Youth In Action looks at the whole environment that seems to condone underage drinking: the store clerk who doesn’t check IDs…the adults who buy beer for a kid who slips him $10…YIA teams look for community solutions instead of focusing their attention on their peers."
MADD also offers multimedia presentations for schools, including "Game On," a program to reach elementary school students.
www.madd.org/madd_programs/8684
Drive it Right
A joint project of Allstate Insurance and the Discovery Channel, Drive It Right offers educational DVDs and other resources for educators, parents, and teens. The website includes video clips of teens talking about their accidents, tips for safe driving, and a downloadable parent-teen driving contract.
www.discoveryschool.com/100days
RADD (Recording Artists, Actors & Athletes Against Drunk Driving)
The entertainment industry’s voice for road safety, RADD produces Public Service Announcements and offers tools for educators, parents, and teens. RADD’s slogan: "Your lifestyle is your business. Don’t take it on the road." Celebrity sponsors include Aerosmith, the B-52s, Judd Nelson, Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, Sara Michelle Geller, and Melissa Etheridge.
2) ORGANIZATIONS FOR PARENTS
National Safety Council
The NSC’s website on Teen Driving offers the "Family Guide to Teen Driver Safety," state-by-state statistics and information about Graduated Driver Licensing programs, and access to "Defensive Driving Course-Alive at 25."
www.nsc.org/issues/teendriving
Allstate’s Teen Driving Site
The Allstate Foundation conducted a national survey of 1000 parents of teen drivers and produced a brochure, "Under Your Influence: How To Protect Your Teen Driver." Also available: downloadable parent brochure, parent-teen driving agreement, teen driving report, facts about teen driving.
Drive Home Safe
"Helpful hints, useful parenting advice, driving instruction, and everything else related to safe teen driving." Website features articles such as "How To Train Your Teen Driver to be an Effective, Cautious, and Responsible Driver" and "How to Know When Your Teen Driver Speeds and How to Stop It."
Parenting My Teen
Sponsored by Mom’s Talk Network, this site offers "The Driving Book," a common-sense, humorous, illustrated guide for new drivers.
www.parentingmyteen.com/index-040207.htm
3) BOOKS FOR PARENTS
Safe Young Drivers: A Guide for Parents and Teens by Phil Berardelli, Nautilus Communications, 2006.
Teaching Your Teen Behind the Wheel: A Parent’s Guide for their Teenage Driver by Terry Lynn Moore, Authorhouse, 2004.
Crashproof Your Kids: Make Your Teen a Safer, Smarter Driver by Timothy C. Smith, Fireside, 2006.
How Parents Can Help Their Teens Become Safe Drivers, brochure produced by the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles.
www.ct.gov/dmv/lib/dmv/20/29/Howto.pdf
SIDEBAR #3
THE TOP CAUSE OF TEEN DEATHS
Automobile accidents cause 40% of all deaths among American teenagers, making car crashes the number one killer of teens today.
SIDEBAR #4
TEEN DRIVING RISK FACTORS, AND WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
A 2007 study by the Allstate Foundation found that parents unknowingly contribute to teen driving deaths by:
• Allowing and modeling unsafe driving behavior
• Not understanding the laws that are in place to protect their teens
• Not talking with their kids about safe driving as early as they do about sex, drugs and alcohol, despite the fact that they know crashes take far more teen lives
• Being misinformed about key factors that cause these deadly crashes
• Thinking their own kids are immune
In that same study, nearly 9 in 10 teens said their parents are influential in encouraging safer driving. So parents have the best reason there is to step up to the plate: to save their teenagers’ lives.
RISK FACTOR: Choice of vehicle
• The older cars driven by many teens lack the latest safety equipment: airbags, ABS, traction control, etc., and may have worn brakes, bald tires, tired shocks.
• SUVs and pick-up trucks are more likely to roll over than sedans.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Choose a car that’s "big and boring" for your teen: a mid-size sedan, not an SUV or pickup truck–as new and well-equipped as possible within your budget.
• Make sure your teen’s car is serviced regularly.
RISK FACTOR: Lack of experience
• Generally speaking, the longer a driver has been behind the wheel, the better equipped she or he is to cope with unexpected circumstances.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Whether your state has Graduated Licensing Laws or not [see box #1, above], as a parent you can make sure your teen gains driving experience gradually by imposing restrictions and removing them only as your teen demonstrates that they’re no longer necessary.
RISK FACTOR: Speeding and racing
• Teens’ brains aren’t developed enough to predict the consequences of their actions. Their youthful bravado also makes them prone to dangerous driving.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Be a good role model: don’t speed when you drive.
• Make sure your teen is well educated about the dangers of speeding.
• You might also choose to install a device that monitors speed at which your teen’s car is driven [see product round-up].
RISK FACTOR: Drugs and alcohol
• In 2001, 26% of 16-20 year old drivers fatally injured in crashes had blood alcohol concentrations of .08 or more.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Be a good role model: don’t drink and drive.
• Make sure your teen is well educated about the dangers of driving while intoxicated.
• If you have reason to believe this is a risk factor for your teen, you might choose to drug-test your teen at random times.
RISK FACTOR: Not wearing seatbelts
• According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 41% of young people who die in passenger vehicle crashes are not wearing seatbelts.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Be a good role model: wear your seatbelt at all times.
• Make sure your teen’s car is equipped with working seatbelts, and that your teen is well educated about the dangers of driving without seatbelts.
RISK FACTOR: Other teens in the car
• In a study by Johns Hopkins, a 16-year-old with three or more passengers faces nearly three times the risk of a fatal crash as that same 16-year-old driving alone. According to a study by the Allstate Foundation, 77% of parents allow their teens to drive with friends, even though the chances of crashing increase in proportion to the number of passengers.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Limit the number of teens your teen is allowed to drive with, as a driver or as a passenger.
RISK FACTOR: Distractions while driving
• Talking on cell phones, listening to loud music, and talking to friends in the car constitute one of the three top causes of teenage accidents.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Be a good role model: don’t talk on the phone, listen to loud music, or engage in intense interaction with passengers in the back seat while you’re driving.
• Make and enforce a no-cell-phone, no-loud-music rule for your teen driver.