More young drivers are hitting the roads as school lets out, making this the most deadly time of the year for teen drivers, according to AAA.
Deadly crashes involving teens spike by 15 percent during the summer break, also known as the “100 Deadliest Days of Teen Driving,” AAA said. Teens, who are more inexperienced drivers, are three times more likely to be involved in fatal accidents than adults, especially between Memorial and Labor days, when there are more of them on the road.
Driving hazards include distraction, which causes six out of 10 crashes, and speeding, which leads to 30 percent of deadly collisions. Sixty percent of lethal accidents are caused by teens who do not wear seatbelts, AAA reported.
“What we know about teens is that they are not only a danger to themselves, but to other people on the road,” said Jennier Rian of AAA. “Our previous research actually showed that the vast majority of people that are injured and killed when a teen driver is behind the wheel is someone other than the teen.”
AAA urges parents to create a formal driving agreement with teenage children, laying out the consequences of breaking the rules.
