Peer passengers are a huge distraction for teen drivers

 Posted on January 03, 2019 in Uncategorized

Let's be honest. Teenagers lack the experience to safely multitask while driving. For this reason, their parents often warn them not to use their cell phones, eat or do anything other than drive and pay attention to the road when they drive.

The question is whether Texas parents warn their teens about the dangers of having passengers their age in the vehicle. Did you know that with one peer passenger in the vehicle, the risk of an accident doubles? If a teenager has two or more peers along for the ride, the risk triples — and this is without adding any additional distractions.

Teens may not always follow the rules

If you have a teenager or two at home, then you know that they don't always do what you would prefer them to do. They may use their phones while driving and may even have several passengers in the vehicle with them. If your child can get them to follow the rules below, the chances of them making it to their destination safely could increase:

• No alcohol or drugs in the vehicle
• Seat belts for everyone
• Respect the responsibility the driver took on
• Don't play the music loud
• Stay calm
• Don't encourage the driver to go over the speed limit

Following these rules may make the ride more boring, but it just might keep everyone safe. The evidence suggests that teenage boys tend to drive more aggressively when they have friends in the vehicle than they do alone. The odds of them violating traffic laws of all sorts increases six times as well. The research also indicates that teenage girls drove just as aggressively alone as they did with peer passengers.

The bottom line is that when teenagers have passengers in their vehicles who are their age, the danger of a crash increases enough for concern. If you happen to be the other driver involved in an accident with a car full of teenagers, you could suffer serious injuries.

What happens next?

As you recover from your injuries, you will more than likely incur medical expenses, lose income and accumulate other financial losses associated with the accident. You may be able to recoup those financial losses by pursuing compensation from the appropriate parties. If you don't believe the insurance company or companies involved provided you a fair settlement offer, you could file a personal injury claim in a Dallas civil court.