Fifteen teenagers have been killed in car crashes within the past three days. The first happened in Ohio on Sunday, when a five-passenger SUV carrying eight drove into a pond. Also on Sunday, an SUV with five teenagers ran a stop sign and collided with a gas tanker leaving no survivors in the vehicle. Finally, on Tuesday, four teens were killed after driving into a creek in the Chicago area.
Unfortunately, accidents and deaths like these are no rare occurrence for teenagers. The National Center for Health Statistics has determined that the number one cause of death for young people 15-20 is motor-vehicle crashes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that fatal crashes are three times more likely for drivers 16-19.
Risks for teenage drivers are high to begin with. But when you add factors like other teenage passengers and cell phones, those risks multiply and skyrocket. It seems that simple steps could have been taken to prevent these accidents, injuries and deaths. For example, none of the passengers killed in the pond crash were wearing seatbelts. Who knows how things could have turned out differently if they had been?
While it is important to exercise caution and good judgment when driving, regardless of age, it is also important to stress these things to your teenage driver especially. One moment or action of negligence can lead to tragedy.