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Teen accident rates are higher than other age groups

On Behalf of | Aug 27, 2024 | Personal Injury

No matter what age group a driver is in, they could cause an accident. Elderly drivers may be prone to accidents due to cognitive or physical decline as they age, for example. Middle-aged drivers may be more likely to get into accidents during rush hour, as they are part of traffic congestion. Thousands of accidents happen every day, involving a wide variety of individuals.

That being said, when you look at the statistics, teenage drivers have a disproportionately high fatal accident rate. Why is this age group involved in so many fatal crashes?

Inexperience and mistakes

In many cases, the issue is that young drivers are inexperienced and this makes them more likely to make mistakes.

Sometimes, these are driving mistakes. A teen may not know how to drive in poor weather conditions just because they have not done it yet. They may misjudge their following distance or drive too quickly into a sharp turn. They just haven’t had these experiences on the road before, and they haven’t learned how to drive safely as a result.

In other cases, teenagers will act recklessly or even impulsively. They may drive under the influence or engage in street racing with their friends. Remember that young people often feel as if they are invincible, and so they will take risks that older drivers simply wouldn’t take. As teens age, they gain more experience and their fatal crash rates go down.

Seeking compensation after an accident

Have you been injured in an accident that a teen driver caused, or have you lost a loved one? If so, you may be able to seek substantial compensation.