Thousands of American lives will be torn apart this summer as families and friends mourn the loss of a beloved teen driver as we get ready to enter the 100 Deadliest Days on the road (Memorial Day to Labor Day). To top it off, AAA projects 34.8 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, an increase of 1.2 percent – or 500,000 travelers – from the 34.3 million people who traveled one year ago.
According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), during the summer months (June, July and August) from the past five years combined (2006-2010), an average of 8 teens (ages 16-19) were killed a day in car accidents (more than 3800 total), representing:
- 8 calls to parents – every single day – to break the catastrophic news that they’ll never see their child again;
- 56+ funerals per week for teens that didn’t have to die;
- Thousands of lives that will now be lived with the searing memory of a senseless loss.
While nothing takes the place of experience behind the wheel, parents and teens can dramatically reduce teen driving risks by taking the right precautions and using a few simple techniques to make driving safer this summer, say driving experts at Tire Rack Street Survival www.streetsurvival.org, a national non-profit teen driving education program, celebrating its 10th year in existence. Tire Rack Street Survival is working to save lives of teens around the country during the ‘100 Deadliest Days’ and beyond by continuing to teach teen drivers the skills they need to stay and arrive alive behind the wheel, especially when leading into the busy road travel season. The community-run program teaches drivers how to control their vehicle rather than operate it in various situations, a huge step beyond traditional driver’s training.
