COLUMBUS – Parents are at least partly to blame for two of three most dangerous mistakes their teenage drivers make behind the wheel.
Oct. 16-21 is National Teen Driver Safety Week
The auto club AAA broke down the three biggest causes of the 14,000 fatal crashes involving younger drivers that happen every year involve young drivers.
One of the top mistakes is driving with “tunnel vision” — not properly scanning the road – which can be put down to inexperience. However, speeding and distracted driving can be blamed partly on parents’ failure to prepare their teenagers to learn to drive safely.
A majority of the driving instructors polled by the auto club said parents are worse at preparing their teens to drive than 10 years ago.
“Most teens are learning important driving skills from watching their parents and they are picking up bad behaviors along with the good ones. It’s up to today’s parents to set a good example,” said Jennifer Ryan, the club’s director of state relations.
During the past five years more than 4,200 fatal teen crashes involved speeding but approximately half of the adult drivers aged 35 to 55 surveyed by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety say they drove more than 15 mph over the speed limit.
A third major contributor to fatal traffic crashes involving young drivers are distractions, such as talking to passengers and using cell phones. More than ¾ of the adult drivers reported talking on a cell phone while driving.
A coalition is calling for stricter Ohio graduated driver licensing requirements, including increasing nighttime driving restrictions to 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., requiring more driving practice and a 12-month learner’s permit instead of six months.