Email
ChatDid you know that beginning October 20th through this Saturday, October 26th, we as a nation celebrate National Teen Driver Safety Week?
That’s right! For the past 17 years, every third week in October, various U.S. departments, national organizations, and non-profits have raised awareness about the leading cause of death amongst 15 to 18-year-olds: car accidents.
At Bottaro Injury Lawyers, we serve our Rhode Island and Massachusetts community members of all ages. This means fighting for our teen clients’ rights after their car accidents. Additionally, we are strong advocates of teen driver education that helps prevent serious injuries in the first place. After all, our children drive on these streets, too!
Pictured above is Managing Partner and Firm Founder Mike Bottaro with his daughter. Children and teens have legal rights, just like adults. If your teen is injured in a car accident at no fault of their own, call us to discuss how we can manage your child’s case on your family’s behalf.
In honor of National Teen Driver Safety Week, today’s blog reviews what things parents, caretakers, role models, and other loved ones can and should do to promote National Teen Driver Safety Week this week and year-round!
Have a Positive Conversation with Teens
Reality dictates that we can’t monitor our teens 24/7. After all, people aged 15-18 years old are learning so much about themselves and their environment on their own. And should!
Since we can’t be present for every one of our teen’s drives, one of the best ways to prevent your teen from getting into a car accident is by having a positive conversation about safe driving.
A positive conversation involves refraining from using scare tactics to command your teens to follow your every word. In fact, doing so may cause your teen to shut down completely! We encourage initiating a nonconfrontational conversation backed by real-life statistics to highlight the seriousness of this topic.
Cover the Need-to-Knows About Safe Driving
As a parent, you may already have driving rules set in place for your teen. No driving at night, no passengers in the vehicle, and no driving too far from home are rules we often see parents implement. In addition to your household’s teen driving rules, this week is a great week to discuss the must-knows about teen driving. Some of these talking points include:
- Always wearing a seatbelt,
- No texting while driving,
- No speeding,
- And obeying state laws.
Seatbelt
Drivers and passengers should always wear their seatbelts while a vehicle is in motion. In 2022 alone, 25,420 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in car accidents. 50% of those who passed were not wearing a seatbelt to protect them.
Luckily, this shouldn’t be too much of an ask for your teens. It’s estimated that over 91% of the population wear their seatbelts. People have generally accepted that wearing a seatbelt is the number one way to protect yourself in a car accident!
Texting
Distracted driving is a problem we must deal with when on the road. Inexperienced teen drivers put themselves and others at an even greater risk when they drive distracted, namely while texting and driving. A teen texting while driving has a 23x higher chance of crashing than an undistracted teenager. Unfortunately, this fact does little to deter it. In fact, one study showed that while 97% of teens said that texting while driving is bad, 43% of those participants still admitted to texting while driving.
The bottom line is, use this week to review your texting while driving rules with your kids!
Speeding
Inexperienced drivers and speed do not mix well. It is important to drive home the importance of obeying speed traffic laws to prevent injuries.
State Laws
State laws guide a lot of the above topics. Now is a good time to remind your teen that all drivers and passengers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are legally required to wear their seat belts. Additionally, all minors are prohibited from using their cellphones, including hands-free options, while driving in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
We recommend discussing the above topics in a positive conversation with your teen. We hope that these talking points and statistics resonate with your teens and keep them safe on the roads!
Be an Excellent Role Model
There’s no question that parents, caretakers, and other influential adults in children’s lives play a huge role in children’s behaviors. Children look to trusted adults for guidance on all sorts of things, including driving.
The best way to reinforce the essential safety topics covered in a positive conversation about driving is to practice what you preach. This means that if you are adamant about your child not speeding or texting while driving, you shouldn’t engage in those actions either!
As personal injury professionals with decades of experience in personal injury law, we know sometimes accidents happen, and we can do little to stop them. However, we hope that this National Teen Driving Safety Week gives you the opportunity to communicate with your teens about driving to help prevent future injuries.
It’s Good to Know Mike Bottaro – 24/7 Top-Rated Personal Injury Help
At Bottaro Injury Lawyers, we care for people. Attorney Mike Bottaro and his award-winning legal team handle all types of personal injury cases throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. We can even help with cases in other states as well. We pride ourselves on our honesty, integrity, and results. Contact us 24/7 in any method you prefer for a fast, free, and confidential consultation about your case. Text or call us at 401-777-7777 or fill out our free and confidential online form. We are here to serve and help you!