Speeding is one of the top three mistakes teens make when learning to drive, according to a new AAA survey of driving instructors. With 65 per cent of those instructors also reporting that parents today are worse at preparing their teens to drive compared to a decade ago, AAA warns parents that their involvement is key to preventing deadly mistakes behind the wheel.
“Nearly two-thirds of people injured or killed in a crash involving a teen driver are people other than the teen,” said Bill Van Tassel, AAA’s manager of Driver Training Operations. “Involved parents really can help save lives, so it’s important for parents to coach their teens to slow down, as well as to avoid other common mistakes.”
Over the past five years, teen drivers were involved in nearly 14,000 fatal crashes and more than 4,200 of those crashes involved speeding.
In the survey, Skills of Novice Teen Drivers, 142 driving instructors revealed the top three mistakes teens make when learning to drive:
- Speeding: Traveling over posted speed limits or too fast for road conditions.
- Distraction: Interacting with a cell phone, talking with passengers or looking at other objects in the vehicle.
- Poor Visual Scanning: Driving with tunnel vision and not properly scanning the road for risks or hazards.
“We all know that the combination of inexperience and risk taking can be a deadly one,” said Jennifer Ryan, director of State Relations for AAA. “Parents need to understand the common mistakes teens are making and take the time to help their teens learn how to stay safer on the road when they are learning to drive.”
In addition to parents being worse at preparing their teens to drive than they were 10 years ago, driving instructors also reported that parents often set a bad example through their own behaviors. A recent survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that drivers aged 35-55 commonly report dangerous behaviors when behind the wheel. More (77 per cent) drivers aged 35-55 reported talking on a cell phone while driving, compared to 68 per cent of teen drivers.
A similar proportion of teens and drivers aged 35-55 reported driving 15 mph over the speed limit on a freeway (45 percent and 46 percent, respectively).
“Parents play a major role in keeping our roads safe,” continued Ryan. “Most teens are learning important driving skills from watching their parents and they are picking up bad behaviors along with the good ones. So it’s up to today’s parents to set a good example. It may end up saving their children’s lives.”
