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Causes of Teen Driving Accidents

A young woman is on the cell phone textign and driving with a road in the windshield for an danger or distracted driving concept.

It should come as no surprise that teenagers are responsible for the most accidents of any group of drivers on the road. Teenagers have the least driving experience of any category of drivers, so they are typically inexperienced with defensive driving and instinctively avoiding dangerous situations.

Significant Numbers of Teen Driving Accidents

Nearly one million teen drivers (ages 16-19) were involved in reported accidents in 2013, the most recent year with available statistics. The reported teen driving accidents caused 383,000 injuries and 2,865 deaths.

The number of drivers involved in accidents while high is probably even a bit misleading because it only covers reported accidents. As every driver knows, not every accident generates a police report. This can happen for any number of reasons (minor damage, hit and run drivers, etc.). So, in reality, the number of teen drivers in accidents is probably a lot higher.

Distraction Is the Main Cause of Teen Driving Accidents

Teen driving accidents can be caused by all of the same things as any other driving accident (poor road conditions, vehicle defects, etc.). However, teenage drivers are more prone to distraction than other motorists.

Teens can be distracted by any number of things, but here are some of the most common distracting factors that lead to teen driving accidents:

  • Cell phone use while driving;
  • Interacting with other passengers;
  • Searching for things in the car or truck while driving;
  • Singing and dancing while listening to music; and
  • Looking at things outside of the vehicle.

A recent study by AAA found that cell phone use (whether making calls, sending text messages, or browsing the internet) was the main source of distraction. Making matters worse, teenage drivers worse often fail to react at all when they are distracted by cell phones. This means that their vehicles would crash before they could even slow down, making the results of teen driving accidents that much more disastrous.

New Orleans Car Accident Lawyer

If you’ve been injured in a Louisiana auto accident, The Mahone Firm is here to help. Call (504) 564-7342 today to speak with a New Orleans personal injury attorney and start working to get the compensation you deserve for your injuries.

Mike Mahone

Mike Mahone

Mike Mahone is a personal injury and business litigation lawyer located in New Orleans, LA, and the sole practitioner of The Mahone Firm.

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