The Correlation Between Teen Car Crashes and Cell Phone Use

In our business, we naturally come into contact with teen drivers of various ages and capabilities. Some kids are extremely mature and can handle the responsibilities of safe driving, but for the most part, a sixteen-year-old is still a human being in development. There are many ongoing studies that claim a human brain isn't fully mature until the person reaches their mid-twenties. Still, most states give a person (with parental consent) the privilege to drive at age sixteen.

Cell phones have been the latest "diversion" to earn a bad reputation when it comes to being blamed for a higher incidence of teen automobile crashes. Some web sites are devoted to chronicling teen driver-cell phone accidents, including Operation Stop, which is based in Missouri. In response to the cell phone-driving quotient, some municipalities are passing laws to prevent any driver of any age from using a cell phone while driving. While the incidence of cell phone caused accidents has risen in recent years, in actuality, any distraction in the car is too much for many young drivers. This includes eating, drinking, changing CDs or iPod selections and talking to passengers, as well as usage of cell phones while mobile.

In our family's case, my son managed to total his car not by cell phone usage but by his distraction during the changing of a CD. Although he hit the other car almost head on, he managed to walk away with no injuries, but that's not always the case with teen car crashes. In a recent accident here in the Detroit area where three teenagers were killed, it is still unclear as to what factors may have caused this tragedy to occur on a sunny afternoon.

Of course, parents want their teenage offspring to have access to a cell phone, if only for emergency purposes. (What the heck did we dinosaurs do before the advent of the cell phone?) These days, teenagers are more likely to use their phones to text message, and many are doing that while driving, making for an extremely dangerous situation. However, there are many proactive approaches parents can take with regard to their child's use of cell phones while driving.

The first thing I would strongly recommend for parents of any new driver is the use of a Parent-Teen contract with regard to driving. Such a contract spells out the rules in the car. In our children's case, we made the contract for six months, which covers the time that new drivers are most likely to get into a car accident. In our contract, our children could not drive with other children in the car (in my older son's case, he couldn't even drive his little sister in the car for the first three months). If for some reason there was an emergency and another child had to be transported, one of us had to be notified of the passenger. They also had to call the parent of the child who was to be passenger to inform them what was going on. Doing this sounds annoying and probably made us look like the parents from hell, but I thought it was a necessary precaution. I knew I would feel lousy if my child's driving caused an accident that hurt someone else. In addition, we made it a rule that there was to be no eating, drinking or cell phone use in the car unless the car was parked. Any deviation or break of the terms of the contract would result in the loss of the car and/or extension of the contract.

There are lots of Parent-Teen driving contracts out there, including Parent-Teen Safe Driving. It's not necessary to pay for a contract. Some insurance agencies, such as Allstate, offer a free parent-teen driving contract that you can tailor to your own family situation. Once you've hammered out the details of your contract, make sure that both parents and the teen go over the conditions line by line. It's vitally important to treat the contract seriously and to spell out all consequences clearly. This would be a good time for the young driver's parents to go over safe driving as well.

There are now fancy electronics to monitor cell phone usage. One of these to consider is called Cell Coach. Once installed, Cell Coach can detect a live cell phone signal within five feet of the receiver and emits a noise until the cell phone is turned off. Supposedly, this teaches a young driver to drive without turning on the cell phone.

In addition, the Drive Cam people, who have long been in the business of providing fleet managers with in-car cameras, is now offering a similar program to parents of new teen drivers. Drive Cam cameras installed on fleet vehicles have helped to reduce the number of accidents with those drivers. The Drive Cam system records video of risky driving and transmits it back to Drive Cam, where the parent can download the information the next day.

In reality, the only cure for the cell phone crash issue is for parents to reiterate safe driving habits with their young drivers. As with many other things in life, "practice makes perfect." The more the child drives, the better driver he/she will eventually become. Also, if the young driver sees by his parents' actions that it's really not that important to be instantly connected to friends, it may help to curb the false sense of urgency of phone calls and text messages.

While it's somewhat convenient and comforting for the parent to think that once the child has a driver's license, their work is done, that is simply not the case. As parents, we are responsible for our children until they become adults. That means 18 years old. It's definitely not popular to be the kind of mom or dad who is actively involved in their child's life, including their driving life, but doing so could possibly prevent a bad habit or bad behavior from becoming a terrible accident.