Oak Hill, WV (WOAY) – The 100 Deadliest Days of Summer occur between Memorial and Labor Day.
AAA says between 2019 and 2023, 13,000 drivers lost their lives in a fatal crash, and more than 30 percent of those involved a teen driver.
How to protect your teens from that fate.
“It is a more dangerous time. And the reason is that teens are on the roadways more,” said AAA Bluegrass Public & Government Affairs Manager Lori Weaver Hawkins. “The school year is over, and so they’re out and about enjoying the summer. Not just our teen drivers at risk, but all road users.”
Summer in itself can be a distraction for a lot of people. As they take trips, they may be driving fewer familiar roads, as well as seeing more people on the roads in general.
“Not just driving, but we have more pedestrians. Kids are out playing. So it’s more of a dangerous time,” Hawkins said. “The roadways are busier, and we’ve got inexperienced drivers out there.”
Parents have a huge role to play in this, too. Talk to your teens about safe driving behaviors.
“Make sure they know they need to buckle up every time, and everyone in the vehicle is also buckled up,” said the public & government affairs manager. “Talk to your teen about distracted driving and speeding. That’s a big issue, especially with young male drivers.”
And parents: don’t just talk a good talk, but model that good driving behavior. That’s something you should be doing at all times.
“But they don’t, I think, realize how children notice these things even at a younger age,” Hawkins said. “So when those younger children get to be the age where they’re getting their license, they’ve seen their parents model safe driving behavior and they’re a lot more likely to model that driving behavior themselves.”
