As a parent, you may feel like you constantly repeat yourself when it comes to the rules you want your teenager to follow. This is a crucial time in your children’s development, and they tend to push the envelope as they strive for independence and to figure out who they are.
Once they start driving, you may have mixed feelings about it. You are proud of your teen, but also scared since the second most common cause of death for teenagers is auto accidents. You may continually warn your teen of driving dangers, but you never quite know if you are getting through to him or her. You just continue to hope he or she listens to you and comes home safely.
The risk is high
Research indicates that teenagers are three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than other drivers. Of course, their lack of experience plays a significant role, but to make matters worse, they tend to engage in dangerous behaviors behind the wheel. One of those behaviors is texting and driving. This distraction is particularly dangerous since it requires all of a person’s senses. Consider the following statistics that make New York teens number one in distracted driving accidents and fatalities: