Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog
A rollover accident right in front of Seminole Ridge High School left one driver in the hospital. According to The Palm Beach Post, the accident happened just before 5:00 p.m. Luckily, everyone was out of the vehicle with officials with the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue arrived on scene. One of the occupants was transported to Palms West Hospital.
Our Palm Beach car accident attorneys understand that it’s the time of year when we can expect an increase in the number of South Florida accidents. With spring break, prom and graduation, teens will be at especially high risk. These newly-licensed drivers have some of the highest accident rates. In fact, car accidents continue to be the number of cause of death for teens and young adults.
To help to prevent these kinds of accidents and to help to keep your young drivers safe, talk with them today about the importance of safe driving. Unfortunately, many of these young motorists think they’re invincible behind the wheel, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
According to the Florida Sheriff’s Association, passengers increase your teen driver’s risk for an accident. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the likelihood that a 16- or 17-year-old driver will be killed in an accident increases with each additional young passenger in the vehicle. With one passenger in the vehicle, they’re close to 45 percent more likely to get into an accident. With two passengers, those risks increase. Thousands of teen drivers are killed every year in automobile crashes.
Traffic accidents happened every 12 seconds in the U.S.
One of your best bets in helping your teen to be a safer driver is to enact a parent-teen driving contract within your household.
With this agreement, you should make sure that your teen is always buckling up. You also want to make sure that they understand the rules of traffic lights, stop signs, road markings and other street signs. In addition to the GDL laws of Florida, you can enact additional requirements or limitations. Make sure they keep their passengers to a limit, they’re home by the established curfew and that they’re avoiding distracted driving. Teens are more likely than any other drivers to drive while engaging in distractions, especially when those distractions involve cell phones and text messaging devices. Make sure they’re keeping their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.
Each one of these steps can help to keep them safe out there. Have the talk with them today, before they head out on their spring break shenanigans.
If you’ve been the injured, contact Freeman, Mallard, Sharp, & Gonzalez at 1-800-561-7777 for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights.
More Blog Entries:
Attention South Florida Drivers: Hands-Free Devices May Be No Safer, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog, March 5, 2013
Broward Injury Watch: Teen Driver Deaths on the Rise Nationwide, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog, March 1, 2013