Making Sure Your Daytona Beach Teen Driver Doesn’t Have To Learn The Hard Way

Every day, Florida teenagers are killed and injured in devastating accidents, due to a simple lack of attention. Worse, every day teenagers kill and injure other people - motorists, bikers, and pedestrians - for the same reason.

In 2009, nationwide, almost 5,000 people were killed and some 500,000 were injured in accidents caused by distraction and inattention. Dialing a cell phone while driving increases the risk of a crash as much as six times. Texting increases the collision risk 23 times.

If teenage drivers don't lose much sleep about this, their parents should and probably do.

What are parents of young, inexperienced drivers to do?

1. Set a good example. This is the first and most important rule. Kids learn from their parents, far more than you would think. If you use your smart phone in the car, how are you to tell your teenager that it is criminal to do so?
2. Talk to your teen. Discuss the risks and responsibilities of driving. Show them the statistics and facts of distracted driving crashes. Show them the Faces of Distracted Driving, the NHTSA videos of real stories.
3. Establish ground rules. Set up family rules about texting and using a cell phone in the car. Enlarge the agreement to include rules about safety belt use, speed limits and traffic violations. Agree on how to control and enforce the rules.
4. Educate yourself and others. Get involved in education and promotion campaigns and gather information on the subject that you can share with others.

The Daytona Beach car accident attorneys of Johnson & Gilbert are dedicated to the safety of their clients. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car crash in Central East or North East Florida, call us today toll free at (800) 556-8890 and locally at (386) 673-4412 or send us an email to arrange a free consultation.