Resources and technologies are making teen drivers safer
SAN FRANCISCO – Clinicians and parents should capitalize on a variety of resources and new technologies that help keep teen drivers safe behind the wheel, according to Dr. Joseph O’Neil, a pediatrician at the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
“As I like to share with parents, this is the one developmental milestone that parents really want their kids to have that is potentially lethal. This could really kill them,” he said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Believe me, that’s a conversation stopper; they sort of look at you funny. But it’s true.”
“But there is some good news. We have been paying attention,” Dr. O’Neil said. Concerted safety efforts and campaigns led to a halving of young driver fatalities between 2005 and 2014, although a recent analysis suggesting a reversal of that trend has generated some concern.
,Risk factors
Numerous factors increase the risk of crashes and deaths for teen drivers, beginning with their developmental stage, according to Dr. O’Neil. Youth are characterized by their striving for autonomy, impulsivity, risk taking, and greater susceptibility to peer influences, compounded by poor judgment of hazards.
“We know that their executive function is still improving, still maturing, They really don’t start getting to adult levels, if they ever do, until about 25,” he commented humorously.
Other risk factors include speeding, drinking and substance use, sleep deprivation, and distractions that range from cell phones, to eating and grooming, to all the gizmos on the dashboard today. Not wearing seat belts also plays a role, as teens are the age group least likely to buckle up, and risk rises with the number of young passengers in the vehicle.
The rate of fatal crashes among young drivers is more than twice as high at night, compared with during the day, with the hours of 9 p.m. to midnight being most hazardous. And the riskiest meteorologic conditions are, not surprisingly, snow and ice – something that parents should take into account in their typical rush to get driver’s education out of the way in the summer months, he said.
“Most of the evidence points to inexperience as probably the single most important risk factor because with inexperience, you’re going to use cell phones, you’re going to be distracted, you’re not going to be paying attention because you don’t have the experience to know that you should,” Dr. O’Neil said.
Graduated driver’s licenses
A key resource in addressing teen drivers’ inexperience and the fact that their crash rate is highest in their first year of driving are graduated driver licenses (GDLs). These licenses start with a learner’s permit mandating supervision and having many restrictions on conditions such as times when driving is permitted and number of passengers, and if there are no infractions, slowly lift these restrictions as the teen gains more driving experience, until he or she receives a full driver’s license.
Use of GDLs over the past 20 years or so been credited with a reduction of 10%-30% in the rate of motor vehicle fatalities among young teen drivers.
“The problem is that teens have smartened up; they are waiting until later, age 18, to start driving because they don’t want to go through the rigmarole of a GDL,” he said. “We know that that’s a problem because we have right shifted that curve, so we are not seeing as many 15- and 16-year-olds dying behind the wheel; we are seeing more of the 18- and 19-year-olds up to 25-year-olds.”
Clinicians should familiarize themselves with their state’s GDL, Dr. O’Neil recommended. As most states’ GDL laws end at age 18, legislators are now looking at options such as establishing a GDL requirement for all new drivers, regardless of age.
High-tech tools
Clinicians also should also be aware of a host of new high-tech tools designed to make teen drivers safer, often by extending parents’ supervisory role, Dr. O’Neil advised. “Your parents in your practices are going to ask you about these,” he said.
