Maryland Accident Law Blog
A number of Calvert County organizations have teamed together to bring Southern Maryland young drivers the Drive 2 Survive training program. The Drive 2 Survive course will focus on giving teen drivers the “real world skills” to deal with unexpected situations they might experience on the road.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Board says:
· Teenagers are just 7% of all drivers.
· Teen drivers are responsible for 20% of all vehicle-related collisions.
· Young drivers are responsible for 14% of all vehicle-related deaths.
According to the program’s founders, Drive 2 Survive goes beyond basic driver’s education and is an advanced safety and collision avoidance training course.
Enrolling in the program costs $200 and is open to any teenager living in the tri-county, southern Maryland area who has a learner’s permit and has taken Maryland’s mandated classroom and in-car training. You can click on the link below to register and find out more information.
The Maryland Rookie Driver Program is a graduated licensing program that allows teen drivers to build their skills before earning their driver’s license.
1) The learner’s permit lets a new driver drive while accompanied by a supervised adult driver.
2) After completing the driver education course, driving with an adult for a minimum of 60 hours, and passing a skills test, a teen driver is given a provisional license. The teen driver must be at least 16 years and 3 months old.
3) In order to earn their full license, the driver must be at least 17 years and 9 months old and have held a provisional license for at least 18 months (conviction free).
The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association provides the following teen driving statistics on their website:
· Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.
· 16 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.
· It is estimated that 16-year-olds are 3 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than adult drivers.
· 3,657 drivers age 15-20 died in car crashes in 2003, making up 14% of all driver involved in fatal crashes and 18% of all drivers involved in police-reported crashes (NHTSA).
· 25% of teen drivers killed in 2003 had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or greater. A BAC of .08 is the level which all states use to define drunk driving.
· $40.8 billion was the estimated economic impact of auto accidents involving 15-20 year old drivers in 2002 (NHTSA).
· Inexperience behind the wheel is the leading cause of teenage crashes.
· In 2001, two thirds of teens killed in auto accidents were not wearing seat belts.
· Almost half of the crash deaths involving 16-year-old drivers in 2003 occurred when beginner drivers were driving with teen passengers (IIHS).
· Statistics show that 16 and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger (IIHS).
· Graduated drivers license programs appear to be making a difference. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that the overall number of 16-year-old drivers fell from 1,084 in 1993 to 938 in 2003 despite an 18% increase in the 16-year-old population.
In Maryland and Washington D.C., the personal injury law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen handles personal injury lawsuits that result due to the negligence of another driver. We also handle other types of personal injury cases resulting from someone else’s negligence, including motorcycle accidents, wrongful deaths, injuries to minors, burn accidents, dog attacks, and pedestrian accidents. Contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for a free consultation.
Program To Teach Southern Maryland Teens To Survive, Southern Maryland Online.com, November 22, 2006
Rookie Driver, Maryland MVA.com
Teen Driving Statistics, RMIAA.com
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