Tennessee Teens at Risk for Accidents After Schools Cut Back on Driver Education
The economic downturn has had school districts in Memphis and around Tennessee implementing budget cuts, and limiting essential school programs. As a Memphis personal injury lawyer, I am concerned that one such cut could place teens in the state at an increased risk of accidents.
Several schools in Knox County, Tennessee have cut down driving education programs, while some have eliminated driving education completely. According to Knox News, this means that several students will not be able to access driving education classes at school. Last year, a driving education teacher from a Knox County school conducted a study on students from the 2009 graduating class. The study found that out of 422 seniors between 16 or 19 years of age, 35 percent who had received driver education classes had been involved in an accident, while among those who had not taken driving education classes, the accident rate was 45 percent. Also, among those who took driving education classes, only 0.9 percent were involved in more than one accident, while among those who had no access to driver training, the rate of multiple accidents was 14.3 percent.
According to AAA East Tennessee, for every teen motorist killed in an accident, there are at least two other people who are killed. Such statistics stress the importance of a formal driver education program for teen motorists in Memphis and elsewhere in Tennessee.
Last month, another related study conducted by researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found that parents have a huge role to play in preventing accidents involving teen motorists. The study found that teenagers who owned their cars had a higher accident risk than teens who had to share their car. The difference in accident rates was significant. Among motorists who had their own cars, the accident rate was 25 percent, while among teen motorists who had to share their car with others, the accident rate was just 10 percent.
That’s not all. Teenagers whose parents were involved in their driving behavior, and set clear and strict rules for their children, were at a lower risk of accidents. These teen motorists had a 71 percent lesser chance of drunk driving, and a 30 percent lesser change of cell phone use while driving.
The Philadelphia study underscores what Memphis auto accident lawyers have believed all along. There is only so much that law enforcement officials and schools can do to install safe driving practices. Parents must play their part in educating teen drivers.
The most important lesson you could teach your teen motorist is that driving is not a right, but a privilege that comes with a set of duties and responsibilities. Now, with school districts in Tennessee cutting down on driver education classes in a bad economy, it’s even more imperative that parents step up and educate their children about safe driving practices and accident prevention.
