Chicago Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Despite the fact that teens can be stubborn and think they know everything, this holiday season is a good time to talk to your teen driver about the dangers of driving this time of year. It's possible that lack of experience and thoughts of being indestructible are reasons teens have a higher crash rate than other age groups.

OurChicago automobile accident attorneys urge parents to spend the time discussing the dangers of driving with teens in order to reduce the risk of serious or fatal injuries this holiday season.

In October, Illinois launched a new website addressing teen driver safety. The website can be used as a tool to help teens and their parents get the right information about driving safety and the laws that apply in the state of Illinois. This site comes at a good time because in January, a study that grades states on safety and highway improvements rated Illinois sub-par when it came to teen driving.

Recently the National Safety Council announced they are joining forces with the Allstate Foundation to push to make roadways safer in an effort to save lives of our young drivers. The Allstate Foundation will fund the new teen safe driving program for 10 states, Illinois being one of them.

Alarmingly in 2009, 3,500 teens were fatally injured in car crashes so the premise behind the program is to educate and advocate for teen safety when driving on roadways. The NSC will form groups in each of the ten states consisting of state and local police, health practitioners, hospital employees, teens, parents, and survivors of teen crash sufferers. Each group will study teen crash data and use numerous resources to then go out and speak to the public on teens driving safer.

Chicago has taken teen driving safety one step further. In an effort to help parents track their teens, Youth Driving Safe has invented a GPS tracking mechanism to install in your teens vehicle. The GPS will report back to the parent if the teen is speeding, altering from the driven route normally taken, and monitor pre-set driving habits. More importantly there is a contract that is designed for the teen and parent to mutually agree on specific driving habits and how alerts will be set-up. The contract provides an open line of communication and expectations between the teen driver and parent.

Keeping your teen safe on the roadways is physically out of your control but what you can do is set a good example by trying to educate them on the dangers involved.