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they need to make correct driving decisions. A changing traffic light, a sign indicating a reduced speed limit, a car ahead slowing down to make a turn, an unsignaled lane change, there is an endless supply of risky situations on the roads that a safe driver is constantly monitoring and a distracted driver is more likely to miss. Distracted driving is also a common risk factor in accidents involving more experienced adult drivers as well.

By far, the most common risk factor in fatal accidents, so common that is a part of nearly 100% of such accidents is excessive speed. In nearly all fatal teen accidents studied, the driver who caused the accident was driving faster than the legal speed limit. What new teen drivers sometimes have difficulty understanding is that the faster the car is traveling, the more difficult it is to maneuver it safely in traffic. Stopping distances are greatly increased as the speed increases. The time available for reacting to situations is greatly reduced as the speed increases. The damages to vehicle and occupants in a crash greatly increase as the speed increases. Speed is also a common factor in adult accidents as well. In fact, in nearly all accidents in which someone dies, no matter what the age or experience of the driver, the driver was traveling in excess of the legal speed at the time of the accident.

In a perfect world, no one would driver faster than the speed limit, or drive while talking on a cell phone or otherwise distracted, or try to impress others with his driving skills. Since we do not live in a perfect world, and since both teen and adult drivers sometimes engage in these risky driving practices, people will continue to die on our nation's roads and highways.

I no longer teach driver ed classes. But it is still scary when I think about teen drivers behind the wheel of a huge metal object capable of maiming and killing. And sometimes the thought of adult drivers driving like teens is even more scary.

Learn more about this author, Tom Parsons.
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