Teens and Driving Danger

By: Wade Phillips - Email

Updated: Fri 5:39 PM, Aug 16, 2002

Twice this week, teen drivers on county roads died in car accidents.

Teen drivers are involved in a disproportionate number of accidents compared to the total number of drivers. Just fewer than seven percent of drivers are teenagers, but teens are involved in 14 percent of all accidents.

Roger Rahim, a driver's education teacher at Southeast Lauderdale, sees the problem every day. He says most teens simply drive too fast.

Yearly, almost 3,000 teens die in automobile accidents, and one in five of those were drinking alcohol.

Local Mothers Against Drunk Driving President Brenda Snowden says many teens just don't understand the consequences of their actions, and that starts with parents.

One thing law enforcement officials want to make sure to remind teens about, wearing seat belts.

Sixty percent of teens involved in fatal accidents are not wearing their seat belts. That's why police say putting on a belt could be the difference between life and death.

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