Teen driving crash deaths rise during 100 deadliest days

If you were seriously injured at the hands of a teen driver in New York, chances are that your own insurance company will be unable to cover all your losses. In that case, you may file a third-party insurance claim.

Knowing about the 100 deadliest days

Teens are naturally more prone to negligent and reckless driving, and this becomes evident during the summer break when more teens are on the roads and perhaps going out more to parties where alcohol is served. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, there is an increase in the number of fatalities from car crashes with teen drivers. This period is known as the 100 deadliest days.

From 2008 to 2018, there were more than 8,300 teen driving crash deaths during the 100 deadliest days. This means that for each day of summer in that 11-year span, over seven people died. The teen drivers themselves are often the ones who are killed. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says that, mile for mile, drivers aged 16 to 17 are three times more likely to be in a fatal crash than are adults.

How teens tend to be negligent

If your crash occurred during the 100 deadliest days, this would be important to note. As for how the teen was negligent, it may have been something as simple as speeding. In a recent Traffic Safety Culture Index from AAA, 72% of respondents aged 16 to 18 admitted to unsafe driving in the previous 30 days, and of these, 87% admitted to speeding either on the freeway (40%) or in a residential area (47%).

This was followed by texting and driving (35%), running red lights (32%), aggressive driving (31%) and drowsy driving (25%). For 17%, the seatbelt had no place in driving.

A lawyer for complex accident cases

Filing a personal injury claim, assuming that you can do so, can be a difficult undertaking. Some acts of negligence, such as texting, are easily proven with phone records, but others, like drowsy driving, are not. Then there is are the aggressive tactics of the insurance companies to contend with, so it may be wise to hire a lawyer for the entire process.