Most Common Causes of Teen Driving Accidents in Florida

Young drivers cause many accidents in Florida. In fact, their crash rates are about four times higher than those of adult drivers. This is mostly due to inexperience and distraction.

These accidents are preventable with enough driving practice and proper education. If you’re a young driver, read on to learn how most teen driving accidents happen and what you can do to keep yourself and other drivers safe on the road.

Leading Causes of Teen Driving Accidents

Here are some of the most common causes of teen driving accidents in Florida:

Lack of Driving Experience

Most young drivers are fresh out of driving school. This means that they haven’t had enough time to develop the skills necessary to deal with different driving situations. For instance, they might run the traffic lights or fail to check blind spots, leading to accidents.

To avoid this, you need to ensure that you get plenty of supervised driving experience before hitting the road. You could also take defensive driving courses and familiarize yourself with traffic rules before driving on busy roads.

Distractions

In 2023, more than 300 people in Florida died due to distracted driving. Although senior drivers could also cause this type of car accident, teenage drivers are the common culprits. That’s because teens are more likely to have distracted behaviors while behind the wheel. 

Distracted driving could be visual, manual, or cognitive. Visual distracted driving happens when you take your eyes off the road, while manual distracted driving is when you take your hands off the wheel. Cognitive distraction happens when you take your focus off driving as another mentally demanding task gets your attention. 

Some of the causes of distracted driving in teens include:

• Using a mobile device, i.e., texting, face timing, or taking selfies
• Grooming, i.e., fixing the hair or applying makeup
• Partying or dancing in the car
• Reading a book or newspaper
• Driving while upset, angry, or emotional

To avoid driving while distracted, you can use the following safety tips while on the road:

• Finish dressing up and grooming at home.
• Safely store loose items that could roll around so you don’t get tempted to reach for them while driving.
• Plan your route and check for traffic and weather conditions ahead of time to avoid confusion.
• Adjust your seat, GPS, sound system, and mirrors before hitting the road.
• Eat your meals or snacks before or after a trip.
• Use your side mirrors to scan the road and watch out for cyclists and pedestrians.
• Maintain your focus, and don’t let anything shift your focus off the road.

Drunk Driving

Drunk driving is another factor that increases teenagers’ risk of being in a crash. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 24% of teen driver deaths are due to alcohol-impaired driving. Driving while intoxicated affects judgment, awareness, and reaction times, making it especially dangerous for teens whose inexperience already makes them vulnerable to crashes.

As a teenage driver, you can keep yourself safe on the road by:

• Choosing to never drink and drive
• Refusing to accompany any teen driver who is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Using alternative rides home, such as taxis and Ubers, after partying

Speeding

Teenagers are adventurous and will probably take risks on the road more than senior drivers. According to the NSC, young male drivers between 15 and 20 years old were the most likely to be speeding at the time of fatal crashes.

While speeding is dangerous for anyone, it’s worse for teens because they don’t have enough driving experience to react quickly to dangerous situations. Possible reasons for the speeding problem include:

• Peer pressure: Most teenagers driving with their friends usually feel pressured to take unnecessary risks behind the wheel, such as speeding. If you are in this situation, you should know that giving in to peer pressure puts you and everyone in the vehicle at risk of a fatal crash. It’s important to note that making safe choices doesn’t make you less cool. In fact, you are brave for standing up for what you know is right.
• Drunk driving: Drinking impairs your ability to drive responsibly and make the right judgment. That’s why alcohol use is common for drivers involved in speed-related crashes.
• Less driving experience: Most teen drivers don’t understand how their cars handle different road conditions. This might result in them driving faster than what is safe, even if they are within the speed limit.

Driving at Night

More than 90% of fatal crashes involving teens happen at night and on the weekends. Night-time driving happens between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.; weekend driving includes driving on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Driving at night is dangerous for all drivers due to less visibility, especially in bad weather. Fatigue also plays a role in most night-time driving accidents, as it increases your reaction time and impairs your judgment. For teens, the likelihood of getting into an accident at night increases significantly due to inexperience.

Weekend driving is said to be dangerous because most teens are likely to drive under the influence of alcohol or other drugs on the weekends. Also, due to excitement, they are more likely to overspeed or overtake recklessly.

Driving With Teen Passengers

Teens driving around other teens is a recipe for disaster. Although it might seem harmless for a newly licensed teenager to drop their friends home after hanging out, teen passenger risks are real. That’s because:

• Teen drivers usually want to show off when other teens are riding with them.
• Teen passengers can be distracting.

To minimize the risks associated with teen passengers, teenage drivers should limit the number of their passengers. They should also avoid having friends along until they are experienced enough.

Stay Safe on the Road

Teen drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal road accidents than senior drivers. They are less experienced and prone to making wrong judgments in different driving situations.

If you’re a young driver, it’s important to be aware of the common causes of teenage driver accidents and take the necessary steps to keep yourself and other road users safe. And if you’re a parent to a new teenage driver, you should ensure that your child gets adequate practice before letting them drive by themselves.