Teen Driving – Tips and Chattanooga Classes

Graphic courtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Teens dream of driving, craving the feel of keys and the freedom of the roads but their parents often cringe at the thought, terrified of the dangers that surround teen drivers.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group.  In 2009, eight teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries. Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.

The traffic accident rates for 16- to 19-year old drivers are higher than those for any other age group. What causes teenage drivers to be such risky drivers? The following is a list of their primary risk factors.

Poor hazard detection

The ability to detect hazards in the driving environment depends upon perceptual and information-gathering skills and involves properly identifying stimuli as potential threats. It takes time for young novice drivers to acquire this ability.

Low risk perception

Risk perception involves subjectively assessing the degree of threat posed by a hazard and one’s ability to deal with the threat. Young novice drivers tend to underestimate the crash risk in hazardous situations and overestimate their ability to avoid the threats they identify.

Risk Taking

Teenagers tend to take more risks while driving partly due to their overconfidence in their driving abilities. Young novice drivers are more likely to engage in risky behaviors like speeding, tailgating, running red lights, violating traffic signs and signals, making illegal turns, passing dangerously, and failure to yield to pedestrians.

Lack of skill

Novice teenage drivers have not yet completely mastered basic vehicle handling skills and safe-driving knowledge they need to drive safely.

Alcohol and drugs

Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs is a common cause of serious crashes, especially fatal ones, involving teenage drivers. Teenagers who drink and drive are at much greater risk of serious crashes than are older drivers with equal concentrations of alcohol in their blood.

Carrying passengers

For teenagers, the risk of being in a crash increases when they transport passengers-the fatality risk of drivers aged 16-17 years is 3.6 times higher when they are driving with passengers than when they are driving alone, and the relative risk of a fatal crash increases as the number of passengers increases.

Night driving

The per mile crash rate for teenaged drivers is 3 times higher after 9:00 pm during the day. Driving at night is more difficult; they have less experience driving at night than during the day; they are more sleep deprived.  Recreational driving, which often involves alcohol, is more likely to occur at night.

Chattanooga Classes:

The City of Chattanooga Drivers Education Program is currently accepting applications for the Spring Term 2011.

All enrollment fees must be paid in full and all applications must be completed and signed and received in Traffic Engineering by Monday, February 21, 2011 in order to participate in the Spring 2011 classes.

For more information, please call the Drivers Education information line at 423-643-7011 or call 311 or visit: http://www.chattanooga.gov/Public_Works/70_Driversed.htm.

Class offerings are as follows:

Carver Recreation Center

(600 North Orchard Knob Avenue)

Mondays & Wednesdays, March 7-April 13

4:30 until 7:30

Shepherd Recreation Center

(2124 Shepherd Road)

Tuesdays & Thursdays, March 8-April 14

4:30 until 7:30

John A Patten Center

(3202 Kelly Ferry Road)

Tuesdays & Thursdays, March 8-April 14

4:30 until 7:30