Top 4 Mistakes Teens Make When Driving
Teens are just learning how to drive and are new to many of the skills that they are practicing. However, that doesn’t mean that these mistakes won’t have serious consequences. These errors can lead to car damage, injury, or even death for some parties and can also raise their car insurance bills greatly.
It’s important to know some of the most common mistakes in order to practice safe driving and avoid them.
Here are a few of the most common mistakes teens make when driving:
1) Speeding
Speeding is an issue because there needs to be proper distance between you and the driver in front of you. If there isn’t enough distance, a quick stop could turn into a crash. While it is important to stay up with the pace of traffic for general safety, you don’t need to speed because other people are. Even if you have great reaction timing, when you are speeding it gives you much less time to avoid any obstacles.
2) Getting Distracted
It’s easy to get distracted while on the road. Many of the mistakes teens make when driving are for this reason. Whether it’s something that catches your attention outside, your passengers, or your phone, getting distracted by these things can all have the same disastrous effect. When you take your eyes off the road, the chance of an accident rises greatly. One of the greatest challenges for teen drivers is to stay off their phone. Teen Driver Source “crash risk is four times higher when a driver uses a cell phone, whether or not it’s hands-free.” If you would like to read more stats and information on how teens use of cell phones effect their driving, visit their website at teendriversource.org.
3) Errors during an emergency
Emergency situations can catch a teen by surprise and not allow them enough time to react properly. Sometimes, this means that they do not react at all, and other times it means that they react but also overcorrect. Overcorrecting in an emergency situation means that if somebody tries to swerve out of danger, they might swerve too far and into more danger. They could easily avoid one situation and fall into another. For these reasons, a teen must learn how to anticipate these dangers and also practice safe reaction techniques.
4) Over-confident driving
While some teens may be cautious and follow all of the laws, others can be reckless and overconfident. Overconfidence in driving can be dangerous as it usually means that the driver is taking too many unnecessary risks. Speeding through lights, not checking mirrors when changing lanes, and following too close behind other vehicles can all be signs of somebody that needs to pay more attention when they are driving. Just because you are a good driver does not mean that you should put you and others in danger by neglecting to be safe!
If you would like to learn more about the mistakes teens make when driving, or would like to enroll a teen in driving classes, please contact Colonial Driving School today for more information.