You may have heard that teen drivers are the most dangerous age group. In terms of fatal car accidents, this is certainly true. Their age group is incredibly small, but it causes a disproportionate number of fatal accidents.
But why does this happen? There are a combination of reasons. They range from impaired driving to distracted driving to reckless driving. But what you’ll find is that the real issue is a lack of experience.
Why experience matters
Young drivers simply don’t have as much time behind the wheel, so they are naturally lacking experience that older drivers have. What this means is that they often struggle to recognize dangerous situations. They honestly don’t know what the risks look like, so they will do things that other people would consider reckless and cause accidents. It is just an unfortunate part of the learning process.
For example, a teenage driver may not fully understand the correlation between speed and the severity of injuries in an accident. This is why they may be willing to engage in street racing with their friends or they may aggressively pass other vehicles while weaving in and out of traffic. Older drivers see this as completely irresponsible, but teens simply haven’t reached that stage of mental development yet.
Have you been injured?
This is problematic because it means you’re always going to face risks from teen drivers who are still learning. If you’ve been injured in an accident one of them caused, you may deserve financial compensation. Be sure you know exactly what legal steps to take to seek compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other related costs.