There has recently been a lot of focus on reducing the incidence of distracted driving among teenage drivers. However, it is equally important for parents and law-enforcement agencies to focus on the fact that speeding accounts for a high proportion of teen driver car accident fatalities every year. According to Governor’s Highway Safety Association data released recently, as many as one-third of all fatal teen driver fatalities are linked to driving at excessive speeds.
In fact, the data is disturbing because it indicates that the number of teen driver fatalities linked to speeding is actually on their way up. According to the data, speeding as a contributor to teen driver-related incidents actually increased from 30% back in 2000 to 33 % in 2011. Those figures are even more intriguing, when you consider that the number of teenagers killed in accidents overall actually declined during this period of time.
Some teenagers like young males may be more likely to drive at excessive speeds. High rates of teenage speeding are also likely to occur at night, which is all the more reason why parents must strictly enforce night-time driving restrictions as part of graduated driver licensing programs in California. Additionally, when a teenage driver is driving with other passengers of the same age, he is much more likely to drive at excessive speeds.
The Governor’s Highway Safety Association notes that speeding as a factor in teen driver-related accidents is being relegated to the background, with more focuses on distracted driving and driving under the influence of alcohol. That needs to change because the number of fatalities being linked to speeding is not likely to drop unless we admit that there is a serious problem involving teens driving at excessive speeds.
