National Youth Traffic Safety Month a reminder to teens: Safe driving doesn't take the summer off

As the school year winds down, young people across America are looking forward to the summer.  But as teens prepare for proms, graduations, vacations, and road trips, it's important to keep safety in mind.

The sad fact is, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America.  And new analysis from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) reveals that the deadliest days of the year for teens aged 15 to 19 are in the summer months of May, June, July, and August.  During these four months, nearly twice as many teens died on the roads each day when compared to the rest of the year.

These are sobering statistics.  And they serve as a critical reminder to young people: safe driving doesn't take the summer off.

That's why National Youth Traffic Safety Month is so important.  Each May, our friends at the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) hold events, contests, and promotions to raise awareness about the risks and dangers teens face on the road.  And it's an opportunity to highlight the efforts of youth and organizations nationwide that are helping to save lives and prevent teen traffic crashes.

Over 220 high school teams are currently participating in the NOYS Act Out Loud contest, which challenges teens to take on safe driving projects in their communities.  This year's campaign focuses on distracted driving, and teams are holding school assemblies, creating PSAs and music videos, and collecting X the TXT pledges to spread the word about the dangers of texting and cell phone use behind the wheel.  The winning team, which will be voted on by the public at www.actoutloud.org, will ultimately receive $10,000 for their local youth safety organization.

Secretary LaHood with the NOYS Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Leadership Team.

"There's no doubt that young people have the power to educate both their peers and adults about safe driving and safer roads," said NOYS Executive Director Sandy Spavone.

NOYS and the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF) also unveiled today the winning entry in their annual Drive 2 Life PSA Contest.  This year's video was produced by 15-year-old Lauren Daniels from Oswego, New York, who created a 30-second spot about the dangers of distracted driving:

The PSA will air nationally throughout the month of May as part of National Youth Traffic Safety Month.

"For a lot of teens, this time of year is about kicking back, relaxing, and forgetting about responsibilities.  But we all have a full-time responsibility when we get behind the wheel," said Elliot Johnson, a NOYS youth leader from Brookings, South Dakota.  "These programs are a great opportunity to put the focus back on safety while kids are still in school so that everybody can have a fun, safe summer."

I couldn't agree more.  And I thank NOYS, NRSF, and all of the young people across the country who are working together to help keep our roads safe this summer.

Comments

[David S. McQueen]

I'm not belittling the death of teenage drivers, but when high level (cabinet level) public servants use misleading stats to tweak the emotions of the general public, it irks me.

The summer months have a higher fatality rate because the kids are out of school. It's that simple. There isn't some nefarious evil entity at work here; the kids drive more during those months and thus the higher fatality rate.

Children are notoriously bad drivers. You cannot force them to be mature, responsible citizens; you can tell them the facts of life, though, when it comes to operating vehicles safely. That initially is a parental responsibility. It isn't government's responsibility to raise children, regardless of Clinton's philosophy of statist child-rearing.

We have local and state police which ticket drivers who violate the traffic laws. If you want government involved, discuss it with them. Just do not push federal policy on the states by threatening to withhold federal highway funds (that's MY money, not yours).

[Ben Buchwalter]

Programs to raise awareness for all ages are so important. But they are especially important for teenagers for a few reasons. First, because distracted driving has become the number one killer of teens nationwide. But also because the teen years are when people learn driving habits that are likely to persist through adulthood. Learning to put down the phone while driving as a teenager will likely lead to safe driving as an adult.

Thanks for the post!

[Auto Transport]

We live in an area where there are an unfortunate amount of vehicle accident related teen deaths; it is very difficult for a community to lose a young person! Cities, towns, states and the nation really need to continue to push driver safety as our kids grow up and new drivers take the road. As a parent I do my best to be a good example of a driver: texting, putting on makeup, even sometimes eating and drinking are dangerous! If you can't wait, pull over. Otherwise, wait until you get home!