Statistics show that teenagers are involved in a disproportionate amount of car accidents involving personal injury. 6,000 teens are killed in car accidents every year. AAA has designated this week as National Teen Driver Safety Week. I think that any effort that brings more attention to teen driving safety issues is a good idea.
As a personal injury lawyer I have seen first hand the serious consequences of serious motor vehicle accidents involving teenagers. The problem is made worse today by the use of electronic devises while driving. Cell phones, MP3 players and the like are all distractions. This is a problem for all drivers, but it is especially serious for the inexperienced driver.
Yesterday's Brattleboro Reformer ran an interesting article on the subject. The article quoted some experts in the field concerned about teen drivers and the age of "multitasking". Anyone with teenagers has probably witnessed this phenomena. Doing homework, talking on the phone, listening to music and surfing the internet all at the same time. When teenagers try to multitask while driving the consequences can be tragic.
I applaud the efforts of AAA to bring attention to these issues and I encourage all parents to do what they can to educate their young drivers about the dangers of multitasking while driving.
For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.