Why is the auto accident rate higher for teenagers than for all Essay

Why is the auto accident rate higher for teenagers than for all drivers - Essay Example Slow decision-making and slower reflexes on the other hand affect old people and account for most accidents involving the elderly. In the United States of America, the number of fatalities because of adolescent accidents in the year 2008 was 6,428 people (Teenage Driver Crash Statistics). Most these people were in other vehicles or passengers of the accident causing adolescents. The states of Florida and California recorded the highest numbers of accidents involving adolescents in the year 2008 at 516 and 593 respectively. Of these people, 2793 people were the young drivers, the rest either their passengers or outside parties involved in the accident (Teenage Driver Crash Statistics). Clearly, there is need for action to bring these numbers down. However, to improve the statistics, it is important to understand young drivers and the factors that lead to their involvement in road accidents. Owing to their inexperience in the roads, young people have low abilities to detect hazards, such as slippery roads (Teenage Driver Crash Statistics). This makes them vulnerable and in some cases results in accidents. For example, the case of slippery roads, due to rain or any other factor reduces friction between the tires and the roads and between the brakes and the wheels. This results in brake failure that in turn leads to accidents and loss of life. Loss of friction between the road and the tires also results to loss of control of the car, change of direction at relatively normal speeds may result in skidding and consequently an accident. Failure of perception of this risk by adolescents therefore results in road accidents. Adolescent egocentrism also leads to poor hazard detection. Adolescents have naà ¯ve idealism, which leads to perception of things, as they would be in an ideal world. For example, an adolescent is likely to ignore the driving of