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Report: Teens no longer the most dangerous drivers

On Behalf of | Jan 21, 2020 | Personal Injury

Likely for as long as you can remember, people have regarded teenagers as the most dangerous drivers. The biggest reason is inexperience. A 16-year-old, even one who has gone through all of the proper training, just doesn’t have much time behind the wheel. People make more mistakes when doing anything — cooking, playing sports, playing instruments, etc. — if they lack experience, and the same is true for driving. The difference is that driving mistakes can take lives.

Well, though all of that is still true, there has been a shift. Some reports now claim that teens passed the title of the most dangerous age group on to a new high-risk group: Millennials.

The results

In the study, the most dangerous age group on the road consisted of those who were still in their early twenties. The second-most dangerous age group ranged from 24 to 39. That made Millennials, as a generation, the greatest risk-takers.

The risks

Wondering what specific actions they took that got them this unfavorable position? Some of the risks they engaged in included:

  • Speeding
  • Texting and driving
  • Failing to stop at a red light

The survey did narrow the results down by asking if they had done those things in the previous thirty days. Running it out over their entire driving careers would make it impossible to compare age groups accurately, as older drivers would have so much longer to make mistakes and teens may then appear very safe. By asking about the last month, all age groups could respond accurately.

The reality

The truth is that you always share the road with dangerous drivers. You can’t predict it. Even knowing what age groups cause the highest level of risk, you don’t know who is around you on the highway. Odds are that you are always close to someone who is speeding, texting, ignoring stop signs or lights, or breaking other various traffic laws.

This is why safe driving is only half of the battle. It starts with you, and it should. But that’s not enough. You can follow every traffic law ever written and still get hit when someone runs a red light. You can tuck your phone away in the bottom of your bag and still wind up in the hospital when a texting driver hits your car. When it happens, you will not care about what age that driver is or what generation they belong to.

Your rights

Perhaps you have already suffered serious injuries. You face incredible medical expenses, lost wages and many other costs. You need to know if you have a right to seek compensation from the driver who caused that crash and who, therefore, caused your injuries.