Grad time is upon us again and for young drivers it can be one of the most dangerous times for a novice to be behind the wheel. The need to celebrate at this time of year means, unfortunately, that more teens will be killed on our roads than during any other time of year.
So get ready for the eye rolling and the heavy sighs — it’s time again to talk to the young drivers in your life about what they need to do about driving around grad.
Seatbelts are not an option. Yes they can wrinkle the gown or the tux a little bit. That’s no excuse. Numerous post crash studies have shown that nearly 60% of those 16 to 20 years olds who were killed in a crash were unbuckled at the time. There is no evidence based argument which shows that seatbelts cause more harm by being worn than not — period.
Slow down. Over half of the teenage drivers involved in crashes were found to have been speeding. Impulse behaviour, that need for speed, particularly in young males, clouds good judgment and is a leading cause of fatal crashes for this age group. Talk to young people about specifically recognizing this kind of behaviour. Establish with them that it’s never acceptable when driving.
Make your music playlist up in advance. Driving requires 100% attention. Fumbling around to find that perfect song takes your sight and mind off of the road. One US study determined that 80% of crashes involved some form of distraction.
Night driving adds more risk. Around 15% of youth crash fatalities occur between 9 pm and midnight. Consider driving your young person to and from evening grad festivities. Of course, there’s more activity going on around grad time than the ceremony itself. Know where your young person is going and be frank with them about the increased risks of night driving.
Drugged or drunk driving is pretty much a recipe for disaster. We’ve made some pretty good strides here over the past 20 years but the spectre of impaired driving is still too high on our roads. Under-aged drinking is an offence in BC. Don’t soft sell or allow your young person to soft sell having even a few at grad time. According to MADD, car crashes are the leading cause of death in this country for youths aged 16 to 25. Alcohol or drugs were a factor 55% of the time.
Make a plan. This includes specifically knowing how many people will be in the car and where your young people are going. The novice driving rules established by BC are intentionally designed to limit passengers in a young person’s car but it never hurts to discuss those rules one more time. They weren’t enacted because bureaucrats had nothing to do. They were put in place to cut down on numerous tragedies involving car loads of young people which were occuring on our roads.
Let’s talk about not texting one more time. It takes just under 5 seconds to read one line of text. At 80 km/h you have just driven the length of a soccer field — blind. Put the phones away but if you must have contact designate a passenger to be the texter. Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of crashes. In BC, the penalties are now significant.
If none of this is getting through, consider the “money talks” approach. You could pay 55% or more for insurance, depending on circumstances, for just one accident as a young driver. Texting and driving carries a fine of $368 and 4 penalty points. Aside from the fine, those 4 points will also tack on a $214 administrative penalty to your licence. If you’re caught doing 40 km/h over the limit, you’ll not only pay $368 plus three points but be hit with a “Driver Risk Premium” of $392 to keep your licence.
Young people clearly understand money — especially the effects of not having any. Making them aware they’ll be responsible for some or all of these costs is often the right type of wake up call.
Glovebox: Vicki emailed last week about drivers running red lights which seem to be on the increase from her perspective. It’s equally important to remember that running a yellow light can be just as dangerous. The law requires that you shall stop for a yellow light unless it’s not safe to do it. If the road is wet or there’s someone following too closely, that gives you some leeway but most of the traffic light violations I see out there are totally avoidable. A yellow light ticket carries exactly the same penalties as running a red light.
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