According to Partners for Safe Teen Driving, high school students are nearly three times more likely to get into a crash than a person above the age of twenty.
Lakeland drivers have proven that these statistics are accurate.
“One time, I hit somebody in the Lakeland parking lot because I overestimated my turn and did not pay close attention to the road. But once, a teenager dented the whole back corner of my car, and it was like $4000 to fix,” Keona Roemerman, a senior at Lakeland High School, said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that inexperienced and distracted driving teenagers are more likely to get into a crash than the older generations. The three “critical errors” seen most with teenage drivers are a lack of scanning the road, speeding, and distractions.
Underestimation due to a lack of experience can lead teenagers to get themselves into more critical situations because they do not recognize the danger they could put themselves in.
“Even though there are some bad drivers, you should still get your license at 13 in Idaho. Driving is easy, but teens get into accidents because they mess around,” Thor Rogers, a Lakeland student who has been in a crash, said.
Distracted driving is a big issue among younger generations. Pew Research Center says that 34 percent of teenagers between the ages of sixteen and seventeen admit to texting while driving.
“I believe it is more common for teenagers to get into accidents than adults because they drive too big and do not know their boundaries.
Sometimes, some kids try to show off to impress others inside the parking lot, but some kids will have distractions like their phone while driving,” John Hatcher, the school’s armed guard, said.
According to the Idaho Department of Education, to obtain a driver’s license in Idaho, you need to complete a skills test and a knowledge test.
“Kids should still get their license at sixteen, but since COVID, you can take driving classes online. When my kids were getting their permits and licenses, they had to go in and take the classes, and I think that is the best option since it is better learning,” Hatcher said.
