I’m currently helping my 15 year-old learn to drive, and this just-released
report by the Allstate
Foundation absolutely terrifies me. The report documents a recent Foundation study that goes a long way toward
explaining why conventional safe-driving programs aren’t working for teenage drivers.
Despite a proliferation of teen-driver safety programs in the U.S., in the last year – and in every year for the past
decade – between 5,000 and 6,000 teenagers were killed in motor vehicle accidents, while about 300,000 more were
injured. What’s worse, there will be a 23 percent increase in the number of teen drivers on U.S. roads in the next five
years.
The study found that conventional driver training doesn’t attack the root causes of unsafe teen driving that stem from
teen attitudes and mindset, including peer pressure leading to risky driving, and the physical immaturity of the
decision-making areas of the brain (which aren’t fully-developed until the mid-20s).
If you’re a parent, a teenage driver, or a mentor to a teenager,
this report is a
must-read.