Teenagers have the highest car crash and fatality rates of any demographic group, partly because they woefully underestimate driving risks. Injury prevention programs can change their perspective, a new study shows — at least for a while.
Toronto researchers studied 262 high school students participating in a one-day injury prevention program sponsored by their school and a local hospital. In addition to lectures about safety, the program included a tour of an intensive care unit, where students met young persons who had suffered a mild traumatic brain or a spinal cord injury.
A control group of teens were quizzed about driving safety before the talk, while others completed questionnaires about a week or a month afterward.
Their answers were troubling. The study found teens consistently underestimate driving risks and believe car and highway design are more likely than human error to cause a crash. The teens saw young age and agility as an advantage, helping them to better cope with poor driving conditions compared to more experienced drivers. Teens also believed that medical [trauma?] care, particularly in young people, is almost always effective.
Compared to the control group, teens who took part in the safety program had more accurate perceptions of risk and safety on the road. But the improvement didn’t last long. Teens who answered the questions eight days after the safety program scored significantly better than those who answered a month later, suggesting that teens need to be regularly reminded about the perils of risky behavior on the road.
The lesson is that parents need to constantly emphasize the risks and to enroll teens in safety programs. Many schools and local hospitals, particularly trauma centers, offer safety prevention programs aimed at teen drivers.
“Students need to comprehend that it is lack of judgment, not only lack of skill, that increases the risk of injury to one’s self and others,” said Dr. Najma Ahmed, assistant trauma director of St. Michael’s Hospital at the University of Toronto, in a news release. “In addition to giving teens the knowledge and teaching them the technical skills, injury prevention programs must also address teens’ attitudes about being immune to illness and death as a means of changing high-risk behaviors.”
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“Students need to comprehend that it is lack of judgment, not only lack of skill, that increases the risk of injury to one’s self and others”
True, and noble. But I remember when I was a teenager. I knew everything, and everybody else was stupid. My judgment was infallible. As long as teenagers are teenagers, it will be impossible to get this type of message across.
— sarahmasI think 2 things get through to teens despite their usual immortality complex (though plenty of teens I know don’t have that).
1. graphic advertising. The If you Drink then Drive you’re a Bloody Idiot campaign worked wonders on young drivers. The anti speed campaigns were less successul in part because they tried to be too scientific (showing stopping distance and so on). The most successful ad was one that showed a child being hit by a car, but mostly the government is too weak to put that kind of thing on prime time to “soon to be” drivers.
2. experience. Unfortunately the thing that really brings it home to teens is knowing someone who died. My husband and several other friends had close friends or family who had died as young drivers and they were all much more careful afterwards.
Since no one would want any teen to have to go through solution 2, we should do much more of solution 1!
Another aspect that operates in Australia is that almost all schools will not allow you to drive yourself to school even once you’re licensed. And they will suspend/expel you if you drive fellow students. The school is responsible for you until you reach another parental figure, so the responsible schools (which is most of them) simply ban driving to school. This takes very inexperienced drivers effectively off the roads in peak hours for the school year and gives them another year to gain maturity before they’re driving very much at all.
I got my licence in the January before my last calendar year at school (the academic year is the calendar year). I only drove on weekends until the mid-year holidays and then only on weekends until the Christmas (long, summer) holidays. It quite simply cuts down teen time on the roads and gives you a more gradual introduction.
— JillyflowerThis is the same old stuff that has been tried for decades and has never worked: Scare them; show them wrecks, show them injuries; hope they’ll be frightened into safe driving. The reason it doesn’t work is it doesn’t teach them how to drive, how to control a vehicle, how to react in an emergency situation, what are the limits. If they survive long enough, they’ll gain the experience needed. The answer: Instead of trying to scare kids into safe driving, teach them the limits, let them experience emergencies in a safe situation instead of letting them learn by themselves on the road. Let them drive in an auto-cross — drive through a serpentine course as fast as you can, feel a car go out of control at 30 mph. Put them on a wet skid pad so they can feel a car slide out of control and learn to recover. If you can afford it, send them to a high-speed driving school. When my kids were learning, I took them to an empty, snow-covered parking lot and told them to drive around the lamp posts as fast as they could. Once kids learn the limits, what it feels like to lose control, how to recover, they will understand what risky driving is and won’t have to experiment on public roads to learn the limits.
— Weird HaroldWell, this is a timely article. Just this weekend I was driving all over the place (I make home visits for Hospice) and I was almost in 3 accidents, all caused by teens. One pulled out right in front of me in a car that had a sign that stated she was a student driver—her “teacher” was next to her, so he wasn’t a big help obviously and then another teen on I-90 (the Mass Pike in Boston)swerved into my lane because she was TEXT messaging while driving. The third was a car full of teens with very loud music and they simply plowed through a stop sign. I was lucky. But I know somewhere someone wasn’t.
Well, I am not really going to throw stones. I was just at my 30th High School reunion and was reminded by many of my old girlfrends about my bad driving in my 1970 blue Thunderbird. We never wore seatbelts, I was always speeding along, and there were about 7 of us in the car at any given time. The thing that probably saved me? Less distractions. If you consider that many teens will do what I described, plus talk on their cellphone or text message, then it is easy to understand why they are so bad at driving. Add to that drugs (legal and non-legal) and alcohol, and you have created a dangerous situation.
Not sure there is an answer. We have some tough driving laws for kids in Massachusetts these days, and yet the death toll keeps rising. Maybe I also forgot to factor in that a lot of accidents I read about with teens involve SUV’s or high performance cars. Unskilled drivers are not safer in SUV’s. I wish parents would get a clue.
— J Nelson RNI tend to agree with the other posters. It’s not that kids don’t consider risks or believe they’re immortal, it’s that their risk threshhold is much higher than that of older adults. And because that’s instinctive, our attempts to change it are doomed to failure. The best we can do is see that they understand the facts. And I very much like the idea of giving them better driving experience. The two best drivers I’ve ever known by far had raced stock cars. They had a degree of assurance that the rest of us can never hope for. Kids love to play games — why can’t they experience a wide variety of emergency conditions in simulation? Also limiting the circumstances in which young drivers can drive — extending perhaps the learning permit period so that they gain more experience under the watchful eye of an adult; zero lose your license until you’re 21 tolerance for drugs, alcohol, cell phones and texting; prohibiting them from carrying other kids and driving at night until they have more experience under their belt. I don’t think I’d do it during the school day, though — that’s just the sort of benign experience they need.
— Josh HillAdults telling youth what to do isn’t terribly effective, but youth voice mixed with peer education is. Get youth to educate their peers, but more than that, let them have a voice in how that education will happen, so they’re not just regurgitating back the same models we’re using that aren’t working. Teens listen to other teens, and they also have smart ideas that adults don’t necessarily think of.
Also, giving youth opportunities for the kinds of responsible decision-making and leadership that come with peer education encourages other good decision-making in matters like, oh say, driving.
Debs
— Debsgofrolic.org
We should bring back Driver’s Ed. for kids in High School. We cut too many things from the curriculum that are important but can’t be quantified by a test: Music Classes, Art Classes, Drivers Ed., Gym, etc. We need to bring back more classes like that, end the emphasis on standardized tests, and end the endless amount of homework. I remember reading Tempest by Shakespeare in 7th grade just for the fun of it. Kids today are over-scheduled and wouldn’t have the time to do that.
Sorry for being off-topic but I just think that the lack of Drivers Ed. and other things is a symptom of the misguided values of the Adults in our society and not the Kids. Hopefully, those kids someday realize Driver’s Ed. classes/Art Classes/Music classes, etc. could have benefited them and make sure these classes are in their own childrens schools.
— TomHave someone come up with a “Jaws of Life” simulator,that recreates the sounds of crushed metal,the impact of broken glass falling into your lap, and the sounds of your friends moaning in the back seat,because they forgot “to put their seat belts on”. I see too many stupid people (walking,not driving) who don’t even know to look both ways before crossing the street. Now, we’re going to put teenagers in cars with boom-box bass audio, cell-phones, and text-messaging?…Make sure their life insurance is paid up ..You may even be able to give them a decent “closed-coffin” burial…..
— JosephSorry to be contrarian but none of this will ever work as long as, in american society, teens (and everyone else) equate having a car & driving with being a full adult. In our society you aren’t seen as independent, mature, grown up, etc. until you drive & own your own car.
— AnnMost neighborhoods in the US are structured in such a way that it’s impossible to get anywhere without a car. It’s only recently with high gas prices that people have begun to see how problematic this model is. If gas prices remain high, then maybe american values will prioritize public transportation, and will stop stigmatizing people who don’t drive. And maybe then we can address teen driving in some reasonable way (whatever that is), if fewer of them have a need to do it.
Raising the driving age to 18 would solve a lot of problems. Then while they are at it they could lower the drinking age to 18.
— some dude named steevoWhen I learned to drive the first time in the late ’60’s, the theory was to scare kids. They showed us (in school) a driver’s ed film that was so gory that once I got my license I didn’t drive again until I was in my thirties and I had to. I remember how shaken I was, and I literally had nightmares for years. I’m sure that compared to today’s movies it would not seem gory at all (I don’t watch many movies now for that reason), but I can’t help it, I’m extremely visual. I guess what I’m saying is that it all depends on the kid. It’s important to get this information across, and it’s up to the parent to get through to his or her teen, but what works for each kid will be different.
— bkI think the realities of urban design in much of the United States makes it necessary for teenagers to be given far too much driving responsibility than they are necessarily capable of handling. Many activities are far away, and unless parents are willing and able to chauffeur their children around, learning to drive to the extent necessary to get a license is a necessity that puts teens on the roads far more frequently and far earlier than is probably wise. For whatever reason (perhaps the ubiquity) driving is not viewed as a privilege requiring participant responsibility in this country, but instead is viewed as an adolescent rite of passage on par with going to the senior prom. Maybe removing the necessity of driving would be the best way to reduce the body count, and hey, bonus points for being more environmentally friendly.
— Emma in WonderlandNo matter how well-educated we are about the risks of driving, teens will still do stupid stuff, such as fitting 9 people in a Mini Cooper. What if we changed the perception around: instead of thinking that driving makes you a mature adult, make the latter a requirement for driving, rather than the result. And while we’re on issues involving maturity, I’d rather be able to drink legally than drive.
Oh great …. another PE Powerpoint presentation. I remember being told by a teacher that driving is the most complicated thing next to playing drums - teenagers should learn to play drums.
— H TranA lot of good comments here. I remember my teen years well, and I know I’m not alone in that knowledge and information about risks does not prevent a teen from taking them. Whether it is a sense of immortality, or (more likely) just not having a long-range planning horizon that one does when one gets older, teens do ’stupid’ things–like starting smoking or driving like a nut–despite having full information, and believing it, that these things are bad and dangerous.
The reality is, good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. Gory films and pedantic finger-wagging did not make me a better driver; getting sideways at 40mph in a ‘77 Honda Civic in the rain did. I am lucky not to be eating all my meals through a straw. The solution? Perhaps not uniformly practical, and a bit expensive, but, as other posters have noted, put the kid through a *real* driving education if you can–send him/her to a performance driving school. A good cheap substitute is to go to a big parking lot (er, *without* cement chocks) at the first snow, and learn ‘em a little good old-fashioned physics. (Adults should repeat this themselves, each winter).
And, parents, if you are buying a car for your teen, don’t be stupid. Nothing big and fast and sexy, and consider the safety of others on the road, not just your child–we’re all somebody’s someone out here.
— TimOne answer (only one)to this conundrum is to start talking about driving with teens WAY BEFORE THEY BECOME TEENS.
I always had a saying when our son was little and we were in the car: “When you’re a teenager you won’t listen to me, so I’m going to tell you now about driving.” I would even say that to him, in a joking way. I’m fully aware that teens are just going to be incommunicado and even resistant, and you’ve just got to ride it out. My goal was to do what I could while the window of opportunity/receptivity was open.
We all spend so much time in our cars that there is no lack of opportunities to point out the countless examples of risky driving and ways to “drive defensively.”
I would always point out how rain affected pavement (stomping on the brakes on our cul-de-sac - nothing puts the fear of god in you like being in four-wheel drift - and - safely - gunning the car after stopping at a stop sign, making the wheels spin and the car fishtail. Things like that. It’s not hard to find all kinds of examples.
Also, when we’d be in a traffic jam caused by an accident, I’d say how I hoped no one would be hurt, because their moms would be so distraught and sad, and point out how driving carelessly doesn’t just affect the driver who caused the jam, but people in other cars: by hurting them, by making everyone else late, too, by the traffic jam, and so on. Later, when he became more motivated by money (he’s very into trading work for $$, and, if it doesn’t get too crass and grasping, I think this is a good thing - others may disagree but it works for him/us), I’d point out how costly it was - how much it costs to repair the car, how costly being in the hospital is, how the driver - especially if he’s a teenage boy - would have to pay so much more for insurance, and how the people delayed by the traffic jam are losing money too by not being able to get to work.
I did this in calm, pragmatic ways (I think/hope), and didn’t get all hysterical so that the subject became all emotional and fear-laden. I was certainly not into scaring him - he’s a thoughtful, intense kid and I knew this would be really counterproductive. It fit into the general chatter that goes on in any car with a Mom ferrying her kid(s) here, there and everywhere. There’s just so much concentrated one-on-one time in the car that it’s hard NOT to use it as “teachable moments” that are unsullied by other distracting stimuli. Maybe the only benefit of our car culture.
Now that our son is driving, we just tell him in no uncertain terms: “We simply cannot AFFORD for you to have accidents, god forbid a big accident.” His insurance is SO costly that even one fender bender - hell, one TICKET - would make it impossible for us to keep him insured. He would simply have to stop driving. End of story. This, I hope, and I do think, motivates him to drive carefully. (It also motivates him to keep his grades up. He is required to contribute to his insurance premiums and if he gets As and Bs the rates are lower.)
I also agree with the poster who said teens need to hear these kinds of warnings from other teens - I realized that, once our son became a surly teen, my window of opportunity was closed. I well knew that if I didn’t educate him before then, I’d lose that chance.
I’m not perfect by any means, but I’ve found that the idea that “When you are a surly teen you won’t listen to me so I’m going to talk to you and try to shape your world view when you are more pliable and receptive” has worked well for us. So far. Of course, anything can (and will) happen. You just do the best you can.
I hope this helps.
— Just Another MomI’ve read about how in some European countries, inexperienced drivers have to display a sign on their cars identifying them as such, to warn others on the road to be careful around them. Sounds like a good idea to me, as the parent of two teenagers.
— DMR5713 in Teaneck NJAnn is right. Nothing will work. Why do you think armies like to recruit the young? Because they believe that when the bullets fly, they will hit the guy in front of them, on the left, on the right, in BACK of them, but NEVER them. They are 16, and it is sad because when you know everything there is so little to look forward to … And #16 is right as well. Label their vehicles so at least we see them coming and get out of their way!
I skipped drivers’ ed in high school because I didn’t want to drive at all. After college, I found that I was unemployable without a driver license, so I took private lessons at 25. A week before my first lesson, a woman in a brand-new Mercedes ran a stoplight and plowed into my mother’s car, with me in the front passenger seat and my dad in the back. Miraculously, although both cars were totalled. there were no serious injuries. (She had taken her eyes off the road to scold her toddlers, who were climbing around unbelted, and to retrieve something they had thrown on the floor. Just to show that stupidity is not limited to the young.)
So I learned — the hard way — the perils and responsibility attendant upon piloting two tons of steel and glass. Perhaps this is the only way anyone ever learns anything.
— ACWJust raise the driving age.
— hIf teenagers (and people in general) didn’t have to rely on driving to get them anywhere, there would be far fewer accidents. Just look how far the car accident death rates dropped when the price of gas went up and everyone started driving less. When I was a teenager, living in the suburbs, it was impossible to go ANYWHERE without driving myself (school, job, out with friends….) and I think it’s true for a lot of people, unless you live in a big city, that you can’t even leave the house without a car. My parent’s house wasn’t even close enough to bike anywhere. If teenagers weren’t driving they would be safer, but it’s also not reasonable to expect them to sit in the house all day, not working or ever going out.
And for the record, when I was 18 I was hit and nearly killed by a 65 year old who ran a stop sign as I was driving home from work. After an experience like that, it has pretty much become my goal to live somewhere where I don’t rely on a car to get around.
— CJust raise the driving age.
What a great idea. Surely, allowing people to start driving at 18 or 21 will yield similar results to the US’s drinking age laws. Responsibility isn’t something that’s taught or earned. It comes naturally on certain birthdays.
— ChrisI didn’t learn to drive until I was 21 (couldn’t afford the insurance), and then I was given the use of the oldest, slowest, heaviest car we had. No temptation to drive fast or try anything daring. I also had to pay for my own car maintenance and insurance, although I never owned the vehicle and it could have been sold out from under me at any time by my parents.
How about not showing car ads with absurd implications of performance potential? Cars in controlled fishtails across watery surfaces, etc. The last thing I want is a bunch of 16-year-olds thinking that’s the normal way to drive. “Professional driver on closed course” it says, in *miniscule* lettering across the bottom of the screen.
Also, my parents have always been very careful drivers. The car didn’t start until everyone was belted in; they did not speed, tailgate, or drive aggressively. My mother has gotten one minor speeding ticket in her entire life (she’s been driving for 45 years). Parents have to model good driving behavior.
— EmmyThere is a simple solution to this. Swap the drinking and driving ages. Let kids drink at 16. Let them drive at 21. This way, they get the need to drink and be cool out of the way earlier and they’ve sobered up and matured a little by the time they can drive. Less people would die, and you’d be able to regulate teens drinking better.
Unfortunately, as long as a majority of cities lack good public transportation and as most teens want to work without having to depend on someone else driving, the above proposal probably won’t gain any sort of acceptance.
— KiriThe problem is that parents want to abdicate their responsibilities and let their children drive before they are mature enough. Parents need to “Just Say No” to letting teenagers use the car.
— khfdezIn Mexico City the legal driving age is 16 where you can get a temporary permit valid for 2 years (you have to be 18 to get a license), however, in order to get the driving permit, or license, you don’t even have to pass a driving test or a physical. You just need to sign a paper where you certify that you know how to drive, you know the rules and you are in good health. Go figure….
— Samuel BejarBring on the simulations:
With simulated environments increasingly realistic, let’s take our new drivers into the virtual driver’s seat, where feasible. Analyze where their greatest risks are, and emphasize training there.
Not to replace driving school and driving tests — to augment and inform them.
Maybe even 1-2 hour “refresher” courses every year for those who have been driving less than 5 years. Real estate brokers must “check in” regularly to maintain their licenses, though lives don’t hang in the line in quite the same way. If younger and less experienced drivers stay reminded of driving law, safety, and personalized assessment, it might make a dent in driving and decision problems to offset the additional time, cost, hassle?
— healingkid