On the Safety of Teen Drivers

You may know that we operate a program called Toyota Driving Expectations. It’s a driver-training program, provided free of charge, that is designed to help teenagers understand and manage the very real and precipitous risks that are involved with driving a motor vehicle.

One of the elements that Driving Expectations looks at is the role that driver distractions can play in a traffic accident.

According to The Times of London, a study done by the Association of British Insurers shows that a young driver’s risk of being involved in a fatal accident is greatly increased when there are teenage passengers in that driver’s vehicle.

The more passengers there are, the greater the risk, the study says. It found that the risk of a fatal traffic accident for teen drivers is 39% higher with one passenger, 85% higher with two passengers and an astonishing 182% higher with three or more passengers. My father used to note ruefully that, "One boy’s a whole boy, two boys are a half a boy and three boys are no boy at all." This exponential increase of mischief and risk is what he was talking about.

"Well, that’s Britain," you might be tempted to say. Not so fast. A teen driver is a teen driver, and a distraction – whether it’s from a passenger, a reach for a soft drink or a ringing cell phone - is an invitation to disaster, wherever that driver is driving.

Here in the U.S., one out of five 16-year-old drivers has an accident during the first year of driving. Although teens make up only 6.6% of licensed drivers nationally, they account for nearly 14% of all auto-related fatalities. Indeed, 16-year-olds have the highest crash rate of any age. They are three times more likely to die in a car crash than the average driver. In fact, motor-vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for American teenagers.

But there are antidotes to this deadly vehicular plague. One important one is Toyota Driving Expectations. It is designed to introduce and define defensive driving behaviors to teens and to help them identify the dangerous driving situations that they face daily. One important element of the program describes the relationship between distraction and the driver’s ability to react to emergency situations. We’ve posted previously about this, here and here.

The instruction is real and part of it is hands-on. Participants apply the tactics they learn in class by navigating Toyota and Scion vehicles through defensive-driving maneuvers in a safe, controlled, coned-off driving environment under the watchful eye of trained instructors.

An unusual element of Toyota Driving Expectations is that parents or guardians must participate with their teens. The program teaches parents and guardians to model proper driving habits for their teens and clarify the parameters and rules of responsible driving.

Interested in participating with your teen driver? Or with your parent or guardian? If you’re in Texas, you’re in luck. Our final two sessions of 2008 will take place the second and third weekends of November in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Check Toyota Driving Expectations for details. If you’re not in Texas, just hang on a bit. Our plans for the program for 2009 will be announced in the first quarter of next year.

Though we can’t yet provide the specifics of next year’s program, we can assure you that we’re committed to the task of enhancing the safety of young drivers. This is too important to ignore. It’s important for young drivers, and for us, too, because we’re out there with them.

- Jon F. Thompson, Editor, Open Road

Comments

[used car buying tips]

The Toyota driving expectations is providing a helpful driving training which is free of charge. The teenagers are happy to hear this and I am happy because it will save lives.

[shauna]

You need to can the new advertising commercial, it is very annoying!

[Gwen]

This is an excellent idea. I realize that it is only available in certain parts of the country and it will take a while to expand, but anything to help teenage drivers understand the responsibility of being behind the wheel of a car.