It’s National Teen Driver Safety Week. And Safe Kids Delaware is taking the opportunity to encourage teens and their families to discuss staying safe behind the wheel.
Safe Kids Delaware says working with teens to cultivate safe driving behavior and strategies is one of the most important things parents can do.
Delaware Office of Highway Safety traffic safety program manager Sarah Cattie says that includes being supportive as teens learn to drive and going over the rules of the road with them.
“I think that’s one of the most important things that parents can do is be supportive of their teen as they’re learning to drive; and take some time to really go over the rules of the road with them; simple things like following traffic signals, checking for pedestrians, double checking as you approach a stop sign... things like that,” said Cattie.
Cattie notes that across the nation every year, more than 2,000 teen drivers are involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes.
And Cattie says in the First State there are 36,000 teen drivers.
“Now in terms of reportable crashes, 3,800 of those teen drivers will be involved in some type of reportable crash; so that’s over 10%. As of 2017 there were four fatalities; that’s a decrease from 2016 in which we had eight fatalities,” Cattie said.
Cattie points to texting and speeding as the primary factors contributing to teen accidents.
More safety tips are available here.
You can also watch the winning entry from Safe Kids Worldwide's Teen Video Challenge, produced by Kaylyn Barbour from Oklahoma. She shares how her choice to not wear her seat belt changed her life.
Also, on Thursday, Oct 25 at 5 p.m., The Delaware Office of Highway Safety will host a Twitter Chat to talk about tips to keep teens safe behind the wheel. You can participate by following OHS on Twitter @HighwaySafetyDE.
