Chicago, Illinois – Teen driver inexperience leads to a high rate of crashes resulting in serious injuries or death. One habit that teen drivers can do to help reduce the chances of serious crashes is to practice with their parents to become more comfortable driving on the road.

Although the Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA) revealed that in the past ten years, there was a significant decline in the rate of teen driver-involved collisions, more needs to be done to reduce this rate.

The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data indicates improvement has been made in fatal teen car crashes, but the results have not been as encouraging for older teens in the 18 to 20-year-old age bracket. Teen drivers are still 1.6 times more likely to be involved in a car accident than adult drivers.

Due to a lack of experience, teens can often misjudge traffic gaps, their speed, and road conditions. In 2020, approximately 2,800 teenagers aged 13 to 19 died in car accidents, and roughly 227,000 were injured in crashes. Statistically speaking, this means about eight teens perished in passenger car crashes, and hundreds sustained injuries. In 2020, medical cost estimates for teens who lost their lives in crashes were around $40.7 billion.

The fatal crash rate at night for teen drivers aged 16 to 19-year old age bracket is roughly three times as high as adults in the 30 to 59-year-old age bracket. Approximately 44 percent of car crashes in the 13 to 19-year-old age bracket happen between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Fifty percent of the car accidents happened on Friday, Saturday or Sunday in 2020.

Chicago car accident attorney Paul Greenberg supports the National Safety Council’s (NSC) DriveItHOME campaign, which strives to reduce the number of teens injured or killed in car accidents. “Fortunately, with this program and other ongoing efforts to teach teen driving safety, parents have a good chance of helping their teen to be safe behind the wheel,” Greenberg stated.

If a teen family member has been involved in a car accident, contact the experienced car accident attorneys at Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. “If you have been injured because of someone else’s carelessness (negligence), you have the right to pursue monetary compensation for your injury or loss and learn about the personal injury lawsuit process,” Greenberg explained.