The AA fears that many of the tell-tale signs of an impending teenage road tragedy are being ignored because perilous driving is seen as less of a risk and doesn’t grab the attention as much as a stabbing.
Ninety per cent of AA members underestimate the risk teenagers in cars face compared to higher-profile threats, such as drugs, drinking and gun and knife crime, research for the AA reveals. This is despite the fact that 80 per cent of accidental teenage deaths happen on the road1.
According to the AA, throughout this year, weekends on which there were multiple stabbings have been matched almost victim for victim by car crashes elsewhere that have killed teenagers2.
This survey into the ‘greatest risk to the safety of teenagers” emphasises the need for parents and friends to keep an eye out for potentially dangerous circumstances including:
a car over-loaded with passengers
someone driving beyond the limit of their experience - a more powerful car, longer distance, type of road or time of day that the driver isn’t used to
a driver whose personality or reputation indicates a worse than comfortable risk, although many other teenagers feel under pressure to show off by taking risks when driving
Edmund King, the AA’s president said: “It’s easy to worry that teenagers may fall in with the drug or knife culture – they may or they may not. However, one thing is for certain: they will travel by car with friends of their own age, where just one moment’s bravado, foolishness or just plain bad luck can kill. In 2006, 29 children aged 13-15 died in collisions in which they were likely to have been driven by people of their parents’ age group. This compares with 286 teenagers aged 16-19 killed mostly while being driven by their mates. This is not a matter of trying to outdo other dangers in terms of significance and importance, every teenage death is a tragic waste. The biggest killer of UK youngsters approaching adulthood is car crashes and the tell-tale signs of a tragedy in the making can be more obvious than other risks and therefore preventable by parents and friends.”
Simon McBride
