Speeding Increases as Cause of Fatal Teen Auto Accidents as Total Deaths Decline

Earlier this summer, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) released a new report on fatal teen driving crashes. According to the report, authored by Dr. Susan Ferguson, former senior vice president of research for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the total number of fatal car crashes with teenagers at the wheel has declined across the U.S. but speeding is growing as the cause of fatal teen auto accidents.

Over the last 10 years, Ferguson found, speeding has increased as a contributor to fatal teen auto accidents by 3 percentage points. In 2000 30% of fatal teen auto accidents involved speeding, By 2011, the last year for which data is available, the figure rose to 33%.

The following points were also made in the GHSA report:

• No other age group has a higher crash risk than teenagers
• Speeding is a common factor in the fatal crashes of both male and female teen drivers
• Speeding is more prevalent among teen males
• Speeding is more prevalent at night
• Speeding is more prevalent in the presence of other teens
• Nearly half of all fatal teen auto accidents involving three or more teen passengers in a vehicle driven by a 16-year-old male are speeding related
• Speeding should be recognized as dangerous driving behavior as much as drunk driving
• Increased speed limits and general belief that speeding is acceptable exacerbate the problem
• Graduated driver licensing (GDL) - requiring more supervised driving time by driver's license applicants prior to receiving their license - resulted in record gains in teen driving safety since first enacted in the mid-nineties
• Graduated driver licensing laws placing nighttime and passenger restrictions on newly-licensed drivers has the potential to address speeding issues among teen drivers by limiting exposure to conditions when speeding is likely

Tips to Help Parents Prevent Fatal Teen Auto Accidents

In addition to highlighting the problem of speeding among teen drivers, the GHSA report also provided some tips for parents to help minimize the risk of their teen drivers getting involved in a fatal accident. These tips include:

• Discuss with teen drivers the importance of obeying all traffic laws
• Demonstrate the importance of obeying traffic laws by setting an example
• Establish family rules and consequences for breaking traffic laws
• Don't allow teens to have primary access to a vehicle for the first year after obtaining their license
• When selecting a vehicle, make safety the primary consideration
• Consider adding an in-vehicle speed monitoring device
• Consider participating in an incentive-based insurance programs that monitors usage, braking, acceleration and/or speed and provides rewards for safe driving

To this list, we'd like to suggest prohibiting teen drivers from driving with other teenagers in the car when driving on their own. Since the presence of teen passengers is a significant risk factor for speeding, prohibiting teen passengers will eliminate this provocation.

When Teens Die in Fatal Car Crashes

The fatal teen auto accidents are always tragic and are devastating to parents and family members. The loss of a son, daughter or sibling has deep psychological impact that can affect their ability to work, go to school or function normally -- sometimes for years. This impact often results in serious financial difficulty or, when a sibling's education is impacted, reduced future earning capacity. Families need financial support in times like these.

Under Michigan's no-fault insurance laws, no-fault insurance will cover all medical and burial costs as well as any lost wages related to a teen's auto accident death, but it will not cover the long-term devastation that the rest of the family will face. The family of a fatal teen auto accident victim can recover damages through a wrongful death tort if the teen was a passenger or was not the driver at fault. If the teen was the driver at fault, recovery of some damages may still be possible in some circumstances, as long as other contributing factors that make the teen less than 50% at fault for the accident. To find out if recovery of damages are possible in your teen's fatal auto accident, talk to an experienced auto accident and wrongful death attorney.

The Detroit auto accident attorneys at Sachs Waldman, P.C., can meet with you for a free initial consultation to review your case and advise you on the potential to recover damages in your teens fatal auto accident case. We can help you fight for the damages your family needs to get through this difficult time. Call our Detroit personal injury attorneys' office at 1-800-638-6722 to schedule a free consultation.