May 25, 2023 • 6 mins
The period from Memorial Day to Labor Day is called the 100 Deadliest Days of the year for teen drivers. School is out for summer and teens learning to drive can be distracted by friends, phones, and simple inexperience. Driving impaired is also an issue. We speak with Mark Jenkins of AAA Auto Club Group on how parents can help teens survive the 100 Days.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. We're entering summer and right now the
period between Memorial Day and Labor Dayis called the one hundred deadliest days of
the year for teen drivers, andit is an issue of concern if you
have teen drivers in your family.Mark Jenkins with TRIPLEA or if you're just
out on the road. Mark Jenkinswith Triple A Auto club group based in
(00:21):
Tampa is on the line to talkwith us about the dangers and how the
community can work together to promote teendrivers safety. Mark Jenkins, welcome,
Hey, thank you for having me. Gordon. What are the factors that
make these the one hundred deadliest daysof the year for teen drivers? Well,
I mean, summer is historically adangerous time for teen drivers. You
(00:42):
got the school that's out of sessionnow, so teens we be spending more
time on the road. They're oftendriving with friends at odd hours of the
day and at night, and becauseof their inexperience, teens are more susceptible
to dangerous driving behaviors like speeding,driving distracted, and not wearing a seat
belt. So you know, someof the data that we've collected really reinforces
(01:04):
the point I mean, on average, about two thousand, three hundred forty
one people are killed every year,and teen driver related crashes thirty one percent
of those occur during the one hundreddeadliest days. I would imagine that for
a generation that grew up on phonesin social media. You mentioned distraction,
that's probably a very big concern.It really is, because distraction plays a
(01:27):
role in about six out of tenteam crashes. You know, And what's
interesting is it's not just the phone, right teen passengers are actually the biggest
distraction to young drivers. Cell phonescome in second. You know, many
teens admit to interacting with their phoneand InCAR entertainment systems while behind the wheel.
(01:49):
But you know, oftentimes it's sharingthe vehicle with fellow friends that oftentimes
can contribute to you know, peoplewho are making mistakes while behind the wheel.
Oftentimes there's pure pressure involved, orthere's that temptation to speed or to
show off where you're behind the wheel, or simply just talking to your passengers
and not paying attention to what's happeningon the road in front of you.
(02:12):
Something that we've had on the booksin Florida for a number of years now,
and it exists in other states aswell are graduated driver licensing restrictions for
drivers under eighteen, as far aswhen they can drive, how many can
be in the car with them,what kinds of passengers they can carry.
How important are these restrictions and howcan parents make use of them to help
(02:36):
keep their team drivers safe? Well, it's extremely important because you know,
with team drivers, they're new,they're inexperienced drivers, and often that experience,
that inexperience is what contributes to thembeing involved in a crash. And
it can take years for them todevelop the same experience level as you're a
(02:58):
common adult driver who's been the wheelfor some time. So, um,
you know, oftentimes it's important toreally put in those those stop gaps,
those restrictions to protect teams from themselves. Really, I mean, you know,
you're you're as a parent, you'reyou're guiding them through life and setting
them up for success. Why notdo that with driving as well, because
(03:22):
when you're behind the wheel, youknow, that's not a place that you
want accidents to happen and mistakes tooccur. Um, you know, you
really want to try to set yourteam up for success as best as you
can. And and many cases,that means, you know, limiting the
hours that they can drive, settingrestrictions on how many people can be in
the car with them, or maybeeven restricting them from driving with other you
(03:44):
know, passengers at the same age, and of course you know, asking
them to not use their cell phonewhile while they're behind the wheel. So
parents are the first line of defensewhen it comes to enforcing the graduated driver
licensing restrictions. What are their stepsshould parent let's be taking to help keep
their teams safe on the road.Well, I think you, first and
foremost have to lead by example,right, I mean, your driving skills
(04:08):
and judgment behind the wheel has alreadybegun to shape your team's driving habits.
Oftentimes before you even give them thekeys, they have been watching you and
picking up your cues and learning fromyou. Really, the teams might not
admit it, but in reality theyare totally learning from you. If you're
using your phone while you're behind thewheel, if you're eating, drinking,
(04:30):
all these different things that you do, chances are they're going to think that
that that's okay if they do ittoo. So you know that's very important
first and foremost, and then youwant to let your team drive in a
variety of conditions, be with them, supervise them as they build that confidence
while behind the wheel, so theycan get used to inclement weather, varying
(04:51):
roadways like two lane roads and busyintersections, nighttime driving. All these different
things can go a long way tohelp them develop the confidence. And what
we actually recommend is that you conductat least fifty hours of supervised practice driving
with your team so you can offerthem advice in different scenarios because it's not
(05:12):
always just going to be clear skiesand little traffic, you know, I
mean, things are going to happenand they oftentimes are going to need that
advice on how to respond to that. Teaching defensive driving skills, having your
team refine their communication skills behind thewheel, adjusting their driving habits to learn
to anticipate other driver mistakes that canbe huge, you know. I mean
(05:35):
if they learn and pick up somebad habits tailgating up, speeding, things
like that, and they're not lookingfor possible hazards, then they might not
be ready to respond to that.And then lastly, I think just setting
up clear expectations. You know,TRIPLEA does have something on our website it's
a parent team driving agreement that setsfamily rules and consequences for the team drive
(06:00):
drivers, things like you know whenthey are allowed to drive again, if
they're allowed to have passengers, andthe consequences if they break those rules.
That includes you know what time theircurview is and and if they use If
they're caught using theirsel phone while behindthe wheel, then they need to be
consequences as well. A lot tolearn good habits and bad habits. As
you mentioned, they can pick upMark Jenkins with Triple A Auto Club Group
(06:24):
in Tampa. Thank you very muchfor joining us on Beyond the News.
Thank you Gordon,
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. We're entering summer and right now the
period between Memorial Day and Labor Dayis called the one hundred deadliest days of
the year for teen drivers, andit is an issue of concern if you
have teen drivers in your family.Mark Jenkins with TRIPLEA or if you're just
out on the road. Mark Jenkinswith Triple A Auto club group based in
(00:21):
Tampa is on the line to talkwith us about the dangers and how the
community can work together to promote teendrivers safety. Mark Jenkins, welcome,
Hey, thank you for having me. Gordon. What are the factors that
make these the one hundred deadliest daysof the year for teen drivers? Well,
I mean, summer is historically adangerous time for teen drivers. You
(00:42):
got the school that's out of sessionnow, so teens we be spending more
time on the road. They're oftendriving with friends at odd hours of the
day and at night, and becauseof their inexperience, teens are more susceptible
to dangerous driving behaviors like speeding,driving distracted, and not wearing a seat
belt. So you know, someof the data that we've collected really reinforces
(01:04):
the point I mean, on average, about two thousand, three hundred forty
one people are killed every year,and teen driver related crashes thirty one percent
of those occur during the one hundreddeadliest days. I would imagine that for
a generation that grew up on phonesin social media. You mentioned distraction,
that's probably a very big concern.It really is, because distraction plays a
(01:27):
role in about six out of tenteam crashes. You know, And what's
interesting is it's not just the phone, right teen passengers are actually the biggest
distraction to young drivers. Cell phonescome in second. You know, many
teens admit to interacting with their phoneand InCAR entertainment systems while behind the wheel.
(01:49):
But you know, oftentimes it's sharingthe vehicle with fellow friends that oftentimes
can contribute to you know, peoplewho are making mistakes while behind the wheel.
Oftentimes there's pure pressure involved, orthere's that temptation to speed or to
show off where you're behind the wheel, or simply just talking to your passengers
and not paying attention to what's happeningon the road in front of you.
(02:12):
Something that we've had on the booksin Florida for a number of years now,
and it exists in other states aswell are graduated driver licensing restrictions for
drivers under eighteen, as far aswhen they can drive, how many can
be in the car with them,what kinds of passengers they can carry.
How important are these restrictions and howcan parents make use of them to help
(02:36):
keep their team drivers safe? Well, it's extremely important because you know,
with team drivers, they're new,they're inexperienced drivers, and often that experience,
that inexperience is what contributes to thembeing involved in a crash. And
it can take years for them todevelop the same experience level as you're a
(02:58):
common adult driver who's been the wheelfor some time. So, um,
you know, oftentimes it's important toreally put in those those stop gaps,
those restrictions to protect teams from themselves. Really, I mean, you know,
you're you're as a parent, you'reyou're guiding them through life and setting
them up for success. Why notdo that with driving as well, because
(03:22):
when you're behind the wheel, youknow, that's not a place that you
want accidents to happen and mistakes tooccur. Um, you know, you
really want to try to set yourteam up for success as best as you
can. And and many cases,that means, you know, limiting the
hours that they can drive, settingrestrictions on how many people can be in
the car with them, or maybeeven restricting them from driving with other you
(03:44):
know, passengers at the same age, and of course you know, asking
them to not use their cell phonewhile while they're behind the wheel. So
parents are the first line of defensewhen it comes to enforcing the graduated driver
licensing restrictions. What are their stepsshould parent let's be taking to help keep
their teams safe on the road.Well, I think you, first and
foremost have to lead by example,right, I mean, your driving skills
(04:08):
and judgment behind the wheel has alreadybegun to shape your team's driving habits.
Oftentimes before you even give them thekeys, they have been watching you and
picking up your cues and learning fromyou. Really, the teams might not
admit it, but in reality theyare totally learning from you. If you're
using your phone while you're behind thewheel, if you're eating, drinking,
(04:30):
all these different things that you do, chances are they're going to think that
that that's okay if they do ittoo. So you know that's very important
first and foremost, and then youwant to let your team drive in a
variety of conditions, be with them, supervise them as they build that confidence
while behind the wheel, so theycan get used to inclement weather, varying
(04:51):
roadways like two lane roads and busyintersections, nighttime driving. All these different
things can go a long way tohelp them develop the confidence. And what
we actually recommend is that you conductat least fifty hours of supervised practice driving
with your team so you can offerthem advice in different scenarios because it's not
(05:12):
always just going to be clear skiesand little traffic, you know, I
mean, things are going to happenand they oftentimes are going to need that
advice on how to respond to that. Teaching defensive driving skills, having your
team refine their communication skills behind thewheel, adjusting their driving habits to learn
to anticipate other driver mistakes that canbe huge, you know. I mean
(05:35):
if they learn and pick up somebad habits tailgating up, speeding, things
like that, and they're not lookingfor possible hazards, then they might not
be ready to respond to that.And then lastly, I think just setting
up clear expectations. You know,TRIPLEA does have something on our website it's
a parent team driving agreement that setsfamily rules and consequences for the team drive
(06:00):
drivers, things like you know whenthey are allowed to drive again, if
they're allowed to have passengers, andthe consequences if they break those rules.
That includes you know what time theircurview is and and if they use If
they're caught using theirsel phone while behindthe wheel, then they need to be
consequences as well. A lot tolearn good habits and bad habits. As
you mentioned, they can pick upMark Jenkins with Triple A Auto Club Group
(06:24):
in Tampa. Thank you very muchfor joining us on Beyond the News.
Thank you Gordon,
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