Motor vehicle accidents are among the leading causes of death for teenagers throughout Kentucky and the rest of the United States. Unfortunately, public information campaigns aimed at reducing the number of young drivers killed on the roads each year have proved largely ineffective. However, risk reduction programs for teen drivers that include visits to hospital emergency rooms and morgues could succeed where advertising has mostly failed, according to researchers from Baylor University.
Researchers asked 21 teens who had engaged in dangerous driving behavior a series of road safety questions before and after they took part in a risk assessment program. They discovered that young people became far more aware of the dangers of acting recklessly while driving after seeing first-hand the potential consequences of this type of behavior and learning from doctors and nurses how serious and debilitating car accident injuries can be.
It should be noted that the study does not reveal if these lessons took root and directly helped the teens involved become more cautious drivers. The researchers suggest that teens who have acted recklessly on the roads take part in risk-assessment programs on a regular basis until their behavior improves. Programs similar to the one at the center of the study, which is sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation, are now being run across the country by private companies, insurers and hospitals as well as government agencies.
Teens distracted by phones are often killed in the accidents they cause, but that does not mean that the road users they leave catastrophically injured are unable to seek compensation. When impaired, distracted or fatigued motorists are deceased or face years of incarceration, experienced personal injury attorneys can take legal action on behalf of their clients against the applicable car insurance companies or estates.