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AAA Survey Finds Parents Unaware of Crash Risk for Younger Teens; Parents Knowingly Allow Children to Ride in Cars Under Dangerous Conditions Washington, D.C. - 10/16/2008 AAA offers tips for parents of children at varying stages of learning-to-drive process. Many parents allow their children to ride in cars under conditions they know are dangerous. Furthermore, parents are unaware of the increasing risk of dying in a car crash their young teens face well before they reach driving age. These are two of many gaps between parental knowledge, behavior and traffic safety facts revealed by a new AAA survey of parents of children ages 12 to 17. An overwhelming majority of parents of teen drivers correctly identified the dangers of driving with multiple teen passengers (96 percent) or even one teen passenger (65 percent), yet nearly half of parents of teen drivers (47 percent) say their teen rides with another teen driver at least once a week. More than 1 in 7 (15 percent) parents of non-driving high school students allow their child to ride with a teen at least weekly, as do some (5 percent) parents of junior high students. Parents who allow their young teens to ride with new teen drivers likely are unaware of the danger involved. Despite research showing crash risk begins to rise significantly at age 12, the survey found that nine out of 10 parents surveyed said that a child’s risk of dying in a car crash does not significantly increase until at age 15 or later. "Even if their teen is not driving yet, parents need to make teen driver safety a priority," said AAA CEO and President Robert L. Darbelnet. "Teen crash risks increase long before teens start driving by themselves, so parents should talk to their children about being a safe passenger well before they reach driving age." AAA surveyed parents whose oldest children were ages 12 to 17 and divided them into three groups based on their exposure to teen driving: parents of teens who are driving by themselves; parents of non-driving high school-age teens who do not have a driver’s license and children who have a learner’s permit; and parents of junior high school students. Across all three categories, AAA found parents correctly identified dangerous driving conditions for teens such as driving with multiple teen passengers (96 percent), late at night (93 percent), after drinking alcohol/using drugs (98 percent), and while using a cell phone (97 percent). Parents properly identified as dangerous some less risky driving conditions, such as driving with one teen passenger (74 percent) and during the evening (74 percent), although parents whose teens are currently driving saw them as somewhat less risky (65 percent and 63 percent, respectively). The complete survey including additional findings on parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behavior can be downloaded at www.AAA.com/news. "We’ve made great strides in research identifying risky driving conditions for teens and in promoting graduated driver licensing to help states and parents reduce teen crashes and deaths," said Darbelnet. "For National Teen Driver Safety Week, though, we’re calling on parents to establish parent-teen driving agreements with their current or soon-to-be teen drivers. We’re also providing concrete tips for parents to follow at each step of the teen driver process." Parent-teen driving agreements help families establish rules and consequences for driving before a teen is permitted to get behind the wheel. The AAA survey found most parents of teens legally allowed to drive alone (67 percent) are familiar with parent-teen driving agreements, yet less than one-third (31 percent) have actually established a parent-teen driving agreement with their teen. AAA offers parent-teen driving agreements at www.AAA.com/publicaffairs. AAA offers the following tips for parents of teen drivers and soon-to-be teen drivers. If your teen is not yet driving:
If your teen is now or will soon be learning to drive:
If your teen is allowed to drive alone:
AAA is releasing the parent tips and survey findings as part of National Teen Driver Safety Week (October 19-25). The week draws attention to car crashes as the leading cause of death for teens, killing more than 5,000 teens annually. AAA has been a long-time leader in teen driver safety by reaching out to parents of teens, promoting improved driver training, and lobbying for graduated driver licensing across all 50 states. AAA and international research firm Synovate used an online panel to interview 1,350 adults whose oldest child is 12 to 17 years old. The parents were divided into three categories based on the driving status of their child and the child’s likely exposure to driving age teens. Those categories were: Driving Solo (either with a full or intermediate license); Non-Driving High School (parents of non-driving high school-age teens who do not have a driver’s license and children who have a learner’s permit); and Junior High/Middle School. As North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 51 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.
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