Latest Weather Blog
Experts share safe-driving tips for teen drivers amid the "100 Deadliest Days" of the year
Related Story
BATON ROUGE — The stretch between Memorial Day and Labor Day is the 100 deadliest days of the year for teenage drivers, according to research from AAA and Johns Hopkins University.
Teen traffic fatalities rise nationwide during this period, and safety experts point to a combination of factors that become more common in the summer months.
"Thirty percent of the traffic fatalities are caused or involve teen drivers," Don Redman of AAA said.
Johnathon Ehsani, a professor from Johns Hopkins University, said a major reason for the uptick is that teen drivers find themselves out of school and on the road more. That includes late-night driving and situations where distractions increase.
"The summer months are dangerous because teens are driving more, and they're often driving during high-risk times, so we know that teens are more likely to crash when it's late at night or they have friends in the car," Ehsani said.
Experts say many of those risks can be reduced with simple, consistent habits behind the wheel. They also encourage parents to set clear boundaries and expectations before allowing their teens to drive.
"And hopefully parents are also setting the standard by doing those exact same things as a driver themselves," Redman said.
Good habits include limiting the number of passengers, avoiding nighttime driving when possible, eliminating phone use and always wearing a seatbelt.
"The 100 deadliest days don't need to be the 100 deadliest days," Ehsani said. "They can be the 100 safest days as long as we know that we use the strategies that are known to work and reduce teen driving crashes."
Louisiana's Highway Safety Commission also stresses that teen safety should be a shared responsibility.
"It's everybody's responsibility because we all have a right to the roads and we all have to share and be patient with one another and look out for each other on the road and that's the best way we can save lives," Gregory Fischer of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission said.
News
