The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that distracted driving injures approximately 1,000 people and kills about nine people each day in this country. Undoubtedly, some of those car accidents occur here in Ohio. The data also indicates that crashes involving teenagers involve distraction around 58% of the time. When combined with their inexperience behind the wheel, this makes them a dangerous group of drivers.
Ohio parents may think that the largest distraction for their young drivers is their cellphones, but they would be mistaken. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the largest distraction of teens behind the wheel is their passengers, which are usually within their age range. That does not mean that texting, using social media and other distractions cannot be deadly — it only means that the most often cited distraction is those in the vehicle with the driver.
Teenage drivers do not have the highest incidents of distracted driving, but they do have the highest number of vehicle accidents, and many of them revolve around their distractions. Parents can attempt to instill good driving habits, but once their teens are on their own out on the roads, it is up to them to put those lessons into practice. When they do not, tragedies happen.
For those involved in car accidents involving distracted teenage drivers, the injuries can be severe. It could take a substantial amount of time and medical care to achieve a full recovery, if that is even possible. In some cases, a family could lose a loved one to one of these crashes as well. The financial losses that accumulate during this time can easily create a hardship for the victims and their families. Fortunately, legal remedies may be available to help alleviate those burdens.
