Car Accidents Involving Teenagers Are On the Rise

We all know what driving in Orange County, Los Angeles, and other parts of California can be dangerous. When you add teenage drivers into the equation, those dangers increase. Statistics show that teenage drivers are at a higher risk of being in a car accident than experienced drivers.

Fortunately, teenagers are not allowed to drive for delivery services, such as Uber, Amazon, or DoorDash. However, young drivers still account for many accidents. If you were involved in a car accident with a teen driver, contact an experienced car accident attorney today.

Common Injuries from Teenage Car Accidents

Car accident victims typically deal with the same kinds of injuries, unless you compare it to motorcycle or maybe truck accidents; otherwise, teenagers suffer the same injuries as adult drivers. Many factors can affect the injuries a teenager might suffer in a car wreck, for example, speeding, wearing a seat belt, and the type of vehicle can certainly make certain injuries more likely to occur. Below is a list of common injuries that teenagers suffer from a car accident:

• Broken bones
• Head injury
• Rotator cuff
• Back and neck
• Wrongful death
• Lacerations and cuts
• Facial injury
• Meniscus injury
• Spinal injury
• Amputation

How Much Is My Car Accident Settlement Worth?

If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident, there is a good chance you will suffer from some injury. There is a lot to deal with after an accident, like car repairs, medical bills, insurance company adjusters, lawyers, etc. Many factors go into determining what your accident settlement might be worth in the end, such as the severity of injuries, who is at fault, and the type of insurance coverage. Some things that will affect your potential settlement are listed below:

• What type of insurance coverage is involved
• What damage was caused to your vehicle
• Did you experience pain and suffering
• What are the specific medical expenses involved
• Was there a loss to the overall quality of your life
• Did you lose any $ earnings due to an accident
• What injuries did you suffer (head injury, broken bones, etc)

Common Causes for Teenage Car Accidents

Of course, there are many reasons that teenage drivers get into car accidents, and some of these reasons can be avoided, like speeding, distracted driving, DUI, etc. There are many other reasons that can cause an accident with teenage drivers, just like any other driver would be affected. Even just backing out of a driveway can cause a bad accident if your teenager isn’t careful. Below is a list of common causes for teenage auto accidents:

• Poor road conditions
• Driving at night
• Mechanical failure (bad brakes, flat tire, etc.)
• Distracted driving
• Speeding
• Driving under the influence
• Drowsy driving

How Teenagers Can Avoid Car Accidents

There are some ways that teenagers (or their parents) can help reduce the chance of a teenager causing a car crash. Making left turns, rear-end accidents, and just running off the road are very common reasons why newly licensed teenage drivers crash. Teenagers don’t have scanning skills (like experienced drivers), so new drivers don’t detect hazards in advance as experienced drivers do.

Many studies show a lower likelihood of a car accident among parents who stay involved and help their teenager practice driving, etc. Parents can also set rules, like no driving after dark, no driving with friends in the car, and no driving until their teenager has driven, say, over 50 hours with a parent in the car with them. All of these ideas above can greatly lower the risk for your teenage driver to be involved in a car accident, so we encourage you to take them very seriously.

Why Younger Drivers Are More at Risk

We all know that teenagers are impressionable and don’t have life experience, and that combination adds up to deadly driving. Teenage drivers tend to be reckless, with about 35% of young drivers speeding at the time of an accident. In addition, teenagers can be vulnerable to peer pressure, which involves drinking and driving, and even just showing off to friends. When you throw in other things like distracted driving (texting, checking social media, etc.) and the lack of experience on the road, it’s no wonder that teenage drivers can be very dangerous on the roadways.

According to the CDC, motor vehicle accidents are still the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S. In 2016, there were over 2400 teens killed (ages 16 – 19) in the United States, and over 292,000 teens were treated in emergency departments due to injuries suffered from automobile accidents.

Car Insurance Rates for Teenage Drivers

Living in California is expensive enough, but when you add on car insurance for your teenage son or daughter, you can expect sticker shock. Full coverage auto insurance can easily cost $300 a month or more for a husband and wife on a couple of family cars, but then you throw in a 16-year-old, and the rates skyrocket. According to The Zebra, the average yearly premium for a 16-year-old in California is over $7,000. Surprisingly, even waiting 2 years until 18 barely lowers the cost to $6,000, so any teenage driver can expect to pay very high prices to drive a car legally in California.

Are Teenage Boys or Girls More Likely to Cause an Accident?

Based on a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 9.2 teenage male drivers die in traffic accidents for every 100 million vehicle miles. This is nearly double the death rate of 5.3 for teenage female drivers, which really puts it into perspective. The results of this are that teenagers pay more for car insurance than any other age group, and teen males pay the most on average. Obviously, insurance companies use these stats when setting their prices on auto insurance premiums because teen drivers pose the biggest risk on the roads and freeways.

Teenage Car Accident Statistics

It is a sad reality that teenage drivers are at the highest risk of being injured or hurting another person in a car accident. Before you just buy a car for your 16-year-old son or daughter and hand them the keys, you might want to educate yourself about the cost of insurance and the dangers involved with a teenager getting a driver’s license and a car.

Cellphone Talking and Texting

• 32.8% of high school students have texted or emailed while driving
• 48% of kids between 12 and 17 years old admit to being in a car while the driver texted
• 12% of distracted drivers in fatal car accidents were 15 to 19 years old
• Drivers under 20 years old are the largest % of distracted drivers
• Talking on a cell phone can literally double the chances of a car accident occurring
• 56% of teenage drivers admit to chatting on a cell phone while driving
• 13% of teenagers admit to texting while driving

Underage Drinking and Driving Stats

• About 5.8% of 16-year-olds admitted to drinking and driving in the past year
• Almost 25% of fatal teen car accidents involved underage drinking and driving
• 70% of young drivers who died in a drinking and driving crash didn’t use a seat belt
• 8% of high school students admit to driving after drinking alcohol
• Over 13% of high school seniors reported drinking after driving
• Kids who drink young are 7x more likely to be in an alcohol-related crash

If You Were Hit by a Teenage Driver, You Need a Lawyer

Regardless of whether you are hit by a teenager or a 50-year-old, it is wise to contact a personal injury lawyer to make sure you protect your legal rights. Teenage drivers are the most likely of any age group to cause a car accident, so you need to be prepared in case you are in an accident due to no fault of your own. Many teenagers drive while distracted, which we all know is very dangerous, and you don’t want to be paying your own medical bills due to another person’s negligence.

Anytime you are dealing with injuries from a car accident, you really need to worry about your future health and any long-term health ramifications. You might not know that some injury settlements are taxable and that a police report is something you’ll need after an accident if you get injured. For any questions you might have about being hit by a teenage driver, we encourage you to call DK Law today for a free consultation.