Top 6 Reasons New Drivers Are Unsafe

• Posted on Autos.com Editor
• in Driving and Safety
• on October 7, 2013

It’s general knowledge that younger new drivers, particularly teenage drivers, are more likely than older, experienced drivers to get into accidents. There are a number of factors that make riding with new drivers relatively unsafe. Here are a few top reasons why younger drivers tend to get in more accidents.

1. Inexperience – First, there is the simple fact that new drivers don’t have the physical and mental experience of being on the road, which is simply creating a higher risk for them. The longer a driver stays on the road, the more expertise and skills he or she will have.
2. Lack of Knowledge – Along with the inexperience, new drivers also lack knowledge about the physics of vehicles. What they don’t know on the road could hurt them. That’s why driver education workshops are so important for drivers on the younger end of the spectrum.
3. Short Attention Span – Because of their lack of knowledge and maturity, younger drivers can often be inattentive. Using cell phones and text message devices is a growing problem, especially among younger drivers, but actually in the entire driving community. States are considering laws against this kind of behavior because it is so likely to cause an accident. One issue for younger drivers is that they may learn about this the hard way, through an accident caused by inattention, before they put away the cell phones and focus on the road.
4. Risky Behavior – Another big element in accidents among young drivers is that this is the time of their life that individuals are likely to be experimenting with drugs and alcohol, or otherwise using their recreational time recklessly. This behavior tends to spill over into their on the road experience, and as a result, a lot of accidents caused by young drivers are linked back to inebriation, drug use, or similar situations.
5. Showing Off – Another factor in the unsafe behavior of young drivers may not get much attention, but studies show that accidents are more likely to happen when more than one young person is in the vehicle. This indicates that younger drivers are likely to show off for their peers in unsafe ways, whether by taking extreme risks on the road, or being distracted from the road by passengers. In fact, some studies show that each additional teen passenger in a car increases the risks of an accident. These statistics may be helpful in showing parents and others how to prevent increased risk of driver liability.
6. Lack of Consequences – Another big factor in whether a driver is responsible on the road is something that should be obvious. It all goes back to how the driver feels the consequences of their behavior. Many younger drivers have parents paying for some or all of their driving costs. This can lead to a reckless attitude about what goes on behind the wheel. By contrast, any driver that has to negotiate their insurance rates and pay their daily car costs is less likely to be reckless.

The above illustrates some of the top reasons why our youngest drivers are so much at risk on the road.