Do you have a teenager slowly approaching driving age? And even more significant, is this teenager male? Today, there is a growing number of teenagers who are not getting a drivers license at 16, my oldest included. The reason? For many, it is the high cost of teenage driver’s insurance. But for others, it is simply a matter of safety – and this is why.
- In 2008, there were 4,051 teen crash related deaths, with 1,370 involving female drivers and 2,681 male.
- Two thirds of the teens who died did not wear a seatbelt.
- Currently, the leading cause of death among teens is from car accidents. Car accidents kill more teens than cancer, suicide and homicide.
- In an anonymous survey, 56% of the teen drivers participating admitted to using cell phones while driving. A whopping 46% of these teens text while driving, while 69% admit to speeding up to get though a yellow light.
- In 2008, more teenage driving deaths occurred in August, while 55% of the overall teen deaths happened from Friday through Sunday.
- In their first year of driving, one in five boys will have a car accident, while one in ten girls will have one.
Do you have a teen driver? At what age did he or she get a license? Has your teen been involved in a driving accident? Or have you told your teenager that he or she needs to wait?
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28 January 2010, 10:29 pm
I have a high school senior who JUST got his learner’s permit. He had no desire to drive. VERY different from when I was a kid. I think he figured he would be asked to drive the OTHER two boys around once he had his license.
Then there is my “just turned” 16 year old, who wanted his learner’s the minute he was able to. I plan to give him plenty of driving experience, but he can’t get his license until his grades are better.
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31 January 2010, 9:03 am
My first son got his license at 16 and had no problems. My second had a fender bender in the second week. And then two months later. I took away his license for a year. When he got it back – no problems.
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20 April 2010, 3:10 pm
Driving age varies from state to state
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29 July 2010, 11:31 am
My brother got his license when he was 16. All of us made mistakes and gain more from our experiences. Now, he is using his driving experiences as his job.
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