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A recently released study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) said that a driver’s risk of collision is 23 times greater when they are texting. Distracted driving has been the cause of thousands of accidents and many deaths. In fact, texting while driving kills nearly 6000 people every year in the US alone according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Authority. Here are some of the horror stories:

• A Boston trolley car driver crashed while he was texting his girlfriend.
• Five Rochester NY classmates died less than one week after graduation because the driver was texting.
• A 22-year-old woman ran into a stationary emergency vehicle with its lights flashing while sending a text.
• A Seattle man caused a multi-car pile-up on an interstate by taking a quick second to scan his email.
• A California mother lost her 2-year-old child when an 18-year-old student who was texting and driving hit the pair as they were walking through a crosswalk.
• A New Jersey couple each lost a leg when a texting driver struck their motorcycleBottom of Form.

DON’T BE THE NEXT HORROR STORY

While New Jersey is amongst 34 states in which text messaging while driving is banned, a Fairleigh Dickinson-PublicMind poll on New Jersey driving habits found motorists who admit to texting while driving jumped 40 percent from 2008 to 2009. The poll, co-sponsored by the New Jersey Division of Highway Safety, also found one out of five drivers has sent a text while operating a vehicle. This trend has to stop. 

A recent scientific study based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and FCC data showed that about 16,000 people died in the U.S. between 2001 and 2007 as a result distracted driving from mobile phone use.  More recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported that nearly 5,500 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver in 2009. And the National Safety Council estimates that each year, 100,000 car crashes have been tied to texting and driving while an additional 1.2 million annual accidents involve cell phone use.

 

What You Should Consider & What You Can Do

• Keep your eyes on the road. Reading or sending a text takes your eyes off the road for an average of five seconds.  When you’re driving 50-60mph, that’s the equivalent of driving the length of a football field with your eyes shut!

• Just pull over.  Chances are, your phone call or text can wait.  If you absolutely must communicate with someone, pull over or go to the next rest stop. 
• Don’t rely on headsets. While you may using a headset is a solution, it isn’t really safer than operating a hand-held. You’re still answering and dialing, causing your eyes to be off the road. That means distracted driving.

• Would you drive drunk? Hopefully not. It turns out driving while texting isn’t much worse. A recent study, A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver, shows that the risk of crash for driving while using a cell phone is four times that of a non-impaired driver. This turns out to be the same risk of crash for driving with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .08%. For a driver who is texting, the risk of crash is eight times that of a non-impaired driver.

Adding my teen driver to our policy will cost me HOW MUCH?!

Parents shell out an average of more than $2,500 each year to allow their teens to drive, according to poll conducted by Harris Interactive. In fact, the National Safety Council states that teen car insurance for a girl will cause the family car insurance to likely double, and for a boy it will likely to triple (the general view is that boys are more reckless drivers than girls). 

Why this spike in rates, you ask? Drivers ages 15 to 19 tend to get into more accidents than older drivers and have little driving experience. So, even if you have a clean record, your rates reflect the overall teen track record. There are ways to decrease rates on car insurance for teenagers, but buying a car for the teen and putting them on their own policy normally isn't one of them.

So how can parents of teenage drivers reduce the teenage auto insurance costs?

Saving on Teen Auto Insurance

It’s exciting when you pass the car keys over to your teenage driver. But adding insurance for teens to your policy can cause your rates to rise. Follow these tips to help keep your premiums low when dealing with auto insurance for teens and high-risk car insurance.

1. Drive Wisely. Teens have the physical ability to react quickly, but they may not have developed the skills to scan the road and anticipate what might happen. For those who’ve been driving for less than three years, a discount on auto insurance for teenagers is available to young drivers who’ve completed a six-hour road training course that helps you avoid distractions and drive smarter.
2. Be a good student. Many insurance companies offer discounts on auto insurance for teen drivers who get good grades. If you’re a full-time student under the age of 25 maintaining a B average in the most recent semester or cumulative, you can save big on teens car insurance.
3. Keep it in the family. Discounts earned by the adults in a household can be applied to a teen driver. You can save up to 25% on premiums with multi-car, multi-policy and financial responsibility discounts reducing the costs greatly with car insurance for teenager drivers.
4. Take a defensive driving course.  In some situations, especially if your young driver has been involved in an accident or traffic violation, having your teen driver complete an approved defensive driver courses can be well worth the cost.
5. Save by Paying. Sometimes, the method of payment you use can save you money. A simple change to monthly auto pay can create savings when dealing with auto insurance for teens.  

Research now indicates that most teenagers actually look to their parents for guidance on how to become a safer driver. Statistics show that teenage drivers between the age of 16 and 20 experience a fatality rate that is four times that of 25 to 70 year old drivers.  And data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicate the chance for an accident by a 16- or 17- year old driver is doubled if there are two or more peers in the vehicle and four times greater with three or more peers in the vehicle.

It’s time to step up, take notice and take action to help teens become safer drivers. The “Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act of 2009”, also known at the STANDUP Act, H.R. 1875, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in April 2009. The bill is designed to encourage all states to enact comprehensive Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws that would have more on-the-road driving experience to reduce the alarming trend of teen driving accidents and deaths.

Not all states currently have GDL laws, and part of the intent of the STANDUP Act would be to provide incentives for states to have and vigorously enforce GDL laws. The incentive to states is that Federal-aid highway funds could be withheld if they fail to enact and enforce GDL legislation.

Allstate insurance professionals are taking a stand to help teens become safer drivers. Allstate supports the STANDUP Act and offers a Parent-Teen Driving Contract for parents and teens to have conversations about safe driving and agree to specific behaviors, rules and consequences. The contract covers safe driving practices such as avoiding drinking, texting and other distracting behavior. Establishing ground rules and consequences is a good way for parents and teens to talk about the responsibilities that go with the driving privilege.

Contact your local Allstate agent or visit www.allsate.com/teen.

In addition, take a moment to visit www.facebook.com/save11 for more information and ways you can contact Congress with your support. Let’s standup and work together to help teens become better drivers.