Northwest Iowa — National Teen Driver Safety Week this year runs from Sunday, October 15th through Saturday, October 21st.
The CDC, or Center For Disease Control says that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens age 15 to 18 in the United States. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Vince Kurtz calls that a haunting statistic.
In 2015, nearly 20-percent of teen passenger vehicle drivers involved in a fatal crash had been drinking.
Trooper Kurtz talks about some of the other causes of teen driver-related fatalities.
He says distractions also contribute to the body count. And, he says, while we most often think of electronic devices when we think of distracted driving, that’s not the only cause of distractions.
Kurtz says another major cause of teen-related crashes is “drowsy driving”. Teens these days are busier than ever with school, part-time jobs, studying, extra-curricular activities and more, which often causes them to get less sleep than they need to be alert behind the wheel.
In 2015, 52 young drivers, under the age of 21, lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes in Iowa. So the Iowa Department of Public Safety urges parents to take the opportunity of National Teen Driver Safety Week to talk with your teen drivers about safe driving practices. Because losing even one is one too many.
As a reminder, KIWA Radio has cellslips available to help your teen keep his or her mind on the road and save the texts and calls for when they reach their destination. Just slip your phone inside the specially-shielded cellslip, and calls and texts don’t get through until you pull your phone back out when you’ve reached your destination.
