Preparing Teenagers to Drive in Louisiana

Teens and cars can be an explosive mixture. The facts are certainly not reassuring. Every day, car crashes kill more teens than cancer, homicide, poisoning, drowning and suicide combined.

Over a period of ten years (1998 to 2007) 10,338 drivers aged 15 to 17 were killed in crashes, of which 639 were age 15, 4,052 age 16 and 5,697 age 17. The first years of driving are clearly the most critical.

What can Louisiana parents do?

Supervised driving: Practice driving with your teen under varied conditions. Establish a schedule and rules to manage the process. Do it frequently and for as long as possible to steer your teenager towards more experience in different driving conditions.

Safety belt use: Establish the rules and set a good example by requiring everyone in the family to buckle up.

Distracted driving: This is critical. Write down rules everyone abides by, that are strict and non-negotiable. One rule should be that a call is put on hold until the car can be stopped, and that texting while driving is completely forbidden.

Set more rules and a timetable: Set limits on driving at night, number of passengers, driving in bad weather, and driving with children, and verify the agreed upon rules. Apply zero tolerance for speeding or alcohol use.

Between 1998 and 2007 a total of 24,655 young drivers were involved in crashes that killed 28,138 people. 10,388 of them were the young drivers themselves, 8,829 were passengers, 6,858 were occupants of other vehicles and 1,973 were non-motorists.

Scroll through the numerous and excellent websites about teenager driving and safety with your teens and discuss with them the facts, figures and approaches to a safer future.

If you have been hurt in a New Orleans car crash, contact the attorneys of the Young Firm immediately for a FREE consultation of your case at (504) 680-4100 (local) or (866) 660-7220 (toll free) or by sending us an e-mail.