“It’s because technology has moved into the front seat with them, and I’m talking about talking and texting on cellphones,” said Boyd, the Ouachita Parish School System’s director of transportation and driver’s education.
And no time is more treacherous for teens than the summer, the period known as “the 100 deadliest days” for teenage drivers.
Statistics show seven of the top 10 deadliest driving days for teenagers happen between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Boyd and Tracy Langston, a driver’s education instruction for Ouachita Parish Schools, attributes the increased danger to most teenagers securing their licenses during the summer and to increased driving opportunities because school is out.
“Maturity and experience make the biggest difference in the success of a teen driver,” Langston said.
West Ouachita High School students Jansen A. Nowell, 16, and Kimberly Franklin, 17, completed their driver’s education course with Langston last week.
Both said they are excited about the new freedom driving will allow, but Nowell and Franklin also said they are mindful of the danger.
“One of my brother’s friends was killed in a wreck,” said Franklin, who will soon be able to driver herself to work at her part-time job. “It definitely makes me think.”
“I’m most excited about not having to wait for rides from my parents,” said Nowell, who is active in cross country, track, tennis and photography. “But I’ve learned you have to expect the unexpected on the road. You have to be defensive and eliminate distractions.”
Distractions, whether it be a cellphone or other friends in the vehicle, are the biggest causes of teenage driving accidents, said Gary Stephenson, a spokesman for State Farm, the largest auto insurer in Louisiana.
“Let’s be honest,” Stephenson said. “Safety is often not the first thought many teens have when they get behind the wheel. Foremost thoughts are frequently focused more on simply having fun, cruising with friends and enjoying free evenings with no homework deadlines to meet.”
Stepehson said his company recommends parents and their teenage drivers sign a written safe driving contract. The teenager should help write the contract, which establishes limits and agreed upon behaviors for the driver. “Studies have shown signed contracts result in safer driving behaviors,” he said.
Boyd and Langston agree parents can make a big difference in how their teenagers drive, as an example and as a teacher.
“If parents expect their kids to follow the rules of the road, they should, too,” Boyd said. “And I recommend parents continue to ride with their teenage driver as much as possible even after he or she is licensed.
“I’d try to spend another 50 hours with them during the learning transition. Don’t just toss them the keys and think they’ll be fine.”
Brand-new drivers are those most at risk. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 16-year-olds have about twice as many accidents as 18- and 19-year-old drivers, and teen drivers have a fatality rate three to four times greater than adult drivers.
“Just because they have a license, does not mean they have experience or are thinking like an adult in terms of safety,” Stephenson said.
“It’s really all about experience,” said Boyd, who has worked to keep driver’s education available in Ouachita Parish Schools even as most systems have divested the program in favor of private companies. “The more and safer they drive, the better off they will be.”