The summer season means teens are out of high school, and that gives them far more free time than they had during the school year. They use that free time to hang out with friends, travel and enjoy these carefree months before school begins again.
All of that sounds good from the outside, but there is a dark side to this as well: Teen car accidents tend to rise dramatically in the summer. A typical summer sees roughly 1,000 more deaths when teenage drivers are involved.
And that statistic is just for fatal accidents. As we know well, the majority of car accidents do not result in fatalities. For everyone who passes away, hospital emergency rooms are full of people with serious brain injuries, burns, bone fractures and a whole host of other serious injuries. Beyond that, you have many people who may not be in serious condition but who still get injured in wrecks caused by teen drivers. If all of those statistics rise during the summer, is it really safe to drive?
The issue is just that teens, due to inexperience, always have high crash rates. The school year helps to reduce that by keeping them off of the road. When they have more time off and they drive more, the numbers are just bound to jump, and that’s a danger for everyone on the road around them.
If you do get hit by a teen driver this summer, make sure you know what rights you have to seek compensation for everything from medical bills to lost wages.