Saving our teen drivers from road mishaps

We’ve been seeing a lot of highway mishaps lately including an overspeeding bus which went over the skyway’s ramp and landed on the highway about 30 feet below. Road accidents are now the fourth leading cause of deaths in the Philippines based on statistics from the Department of Health. The trend is alarming and health officials warn that if the trend continues, road accidents could become the leading cause of deaths in the country by the year 2020.

As a cause of external injury, vehicular accident was the No. 1 cause last year, based on data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Almost one out of three Filipinos brought to the emergency room for external injury is related to a road mishap.

The statistics become more alarming, also depressing, if we look at statistics involving teenage drivers. We don’t have local data, but in the United States motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for US teens, with more than one in three deaths in this age group.

According to the US report in 2009, eight teens aged 16 to 19 died every day from vehicular injuries. Comparing teen drivers aged 16 to 19 with older drivers, teens are four times more likely to crash. It is postulated that teens are more likely than older drivers “to underestimate dangerous situations or not be able to recognize hazardous situations.”

The report has also identified which of the teen drivers are more predisposed to road mishaps. These are:

Males: They’re almost two times at higher risk than female teens.

Teens driving with teen passengers: The more the teen passengers, the higher the risk.

Newly licensed teens: The risk is highest on the first year that teenagers are allowed to drive.

So before we hand over the car keys to our teenage children, we have to make sure they’re  properly guided. “There’s more at stake than a scraped knee from a playground game of hopscotch,” writes Glenn Orion, one of our editors for Vital Signs, a publication for doctors and health care professionals. “They (teen drivers) have to be reminded to prioritize safety and sensibility over style and swagger,” he adds.

He gives the following reminders to teenage drivers:

1. “Click it” or ticket. Forgetting the seatbelt is simply being reckless, not to mention that it can also get one a traffic violation ticket. Constant reminding from parents and older companions are important because teens have the lowest rate of seatbelt use, and the majority of teens involved in fatal crashes weren’t wearing this most basic and readily available car safety feature. Glenn also admonishes parents to set a good example. “It should be a default action when entering vehicles,” he writes.

2. Hang-up the cellphone.  Texting or talking on the phone combined with the inexperience of a teen driver is a recipe for disaster. If calls are inevitable, there are now mobile phones with ingenious mobile applications aimed at driving safely.

3. Limit passengers. “Don’t let your teen’s vehicle be the party bus,” Glenn says. He points out the data showing that the likelihood of accidents among teen drivers is directly proportional to how many friends are in the car.

4. Don’t drink and drive. Adults who drink and drive can be an accident magnet. Teens who do the same are even riskier. “Make sure your teen is comfortable calling home or taking a cab if they feel they can’t drive or if they are in a situation where a friend is driving drunk,” Glenn advises.

5. Avoid joyrides or driving at night. Another study shows that a fifth of teenagers’ vehicle-related fatalities occurred between 9 p.m. and midnight, and a fourth occurred between midnight and 6 a.m.

6. Turn down the music. Teens just love to listen to music, coming from souped-up sound systems installed in the car. What can be more distracting than that? “Make sure your teen never drives with headphones on and encourage them to turn down the radio volume, if not completely off, and focus on the road,” Glenn says.

7. Wear comfortable, functional clothing. “Especially in a tropical climate like ours, plenty of teens are walking around in flip flops, and while that’s fine for the beach, it’s not safe behind the wheel,” Glenn warns. He explains that slippers or other loose footwear can easily get caught in the brake or accelerator pedal. High heels worn by teen female drivers are equally risk-prone. “Have your teen wear an appropriate pair of shoes and save the fashion statement for later. Sneakers can be left in the car just in case,” Glenn advises.

Texting while driving

Texting while driving is the act of composing, sending, reading text messages, email, or making other similar use of the web on a mobile phone whileoperating a motor vehicle. The practice has been viewed by many people and authorities as dangerous. It has also been ruled as the cause of some motor vehicle accidents, and in some places has been outlawed or restricted. Texting while driving leads to increased distraction behind the wheel. 

Video

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Are you still Texting While Driving?

Study Reveals the Dangers of Texting While Driving

• Of all cell phone related tasks – including talking, dialing, or reaching for the phone – texting while driving is the most dangerous.
• Teen drivers are four times more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near crash events directly related to talking on a cell phone or texting.
• A car driver dialing a cell phone is 2.8 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-distracted driver.
• A driver reaching for a cell phone or any other electronic device is 1.4 times more likely to experience a car crash.
• A car driver talking on their phone is 1.3 times more likely to get into an accident.
• A truck driver texting while driving is 23.2 times more likely to get into an accident than a trucker paying full attention to the road.
• A truck driver dialing a cell is 5.9 times more likely to crash.
• A trucker reaching for a phone or other device is 6.7 times more likely to experience a truck accident.
• For every 6 seconds of drive time, a driver sending or receiving a text message spends 4.6 of those seconds with their eyes off the road. This makes texting the most distracting of all cell phone related tasks.

Safety Tips – Pedestrians and School Buses

Here’s the Law

• Stop for flashing red lights on a school bus, regardless of which direction you’re headed.
• Continue your trip once the bus has moved, the flashing lights stop flashing or the bus driver signals it’s okay to pass.

Safety Tips for Motorists

• Obey the posted speed limit.
• Fines double in school zones.
• Keep an eye on children gathered at bus stops.
• Watch for children who might dart across the street to catch the bus.

Safety Tips for Students

Respect your school bus driver and follow these rules:

• Stand far back when you are waiting for the bus.
• Sit still so the driver can pay attention to the road.
• Look both ways if you have to cross the street after getting off the bus, or wait for the driver to signal it’s safe to cross the street.

Here’s the Law: Pedestrians

• Yield to vehicles on the roadway if you cross the street at a place other than a marked crosswalk or pedestrian tunnel or crossing. If you’re hit while jaywalking, the driver may not be liable, and his or her auto insurance may not cover your injuries.
• Stay on sidewalks and the right-hand side of crosswalks. Drivers are supposed to yield the right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks.
• If the road has no sidewalk, walk on the left side of the road facing traffic.

Pedestrian Tips

• Always cross at intersections. Look left, then right, then left again before proceeding.
• Look for traffic when stepping off a bus or from behind parked cars.
• As a passenger, get in or out of a car on the curb side of the street.
• Make eye contact with drivers before you cross the street.

Does the word "NO" means allowed?

Be wary. 

You may be the best driver in the world, but you still need to worry about other drivers, including the woman who's putting on her lipstick at 70 miles per hour (113 kph). Put extra space between your car and the one in front of you to give other drivers enough room to make unexpected moves. Check your mirrors constantly and always try to look as far as you can down the road ahead. Always have an escape route you can use quickly if someone sneaks into your lane unexpectedly.

Have you ever experienced a bad day and you just didn't feel like yourself? Then, some "jerk" makes you angry on your drive home. These are conditions that are perfect for road rage, and almost everybody has experienced them. The only difference between you and a road rager is how you deal with these feelings.

Can you find any justification in this scenario?

Pedestrian

Are they safe?
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The greatest difference in pedestrian crash types between marked and unmarked crosswalks
involved “multiple threat” crashes. A multiple- threat crash involves a driver stopping in one
lane of a multi-lane road to permit pedestrians to cross, and an oncoming vehicle (in the same
direction) strikes the pedestrian who is crossing in front of the stopped vehicle. This crash types
involves both the pedestrian and driver failing to see each other in time to avoid the collision.