Teen drivers at greater risk
They too often ignore seat belts; driving habits tend to be riskier, according to statistics
It's no secret teenage drivers pose the greatest risk to themselves -- and others.
Research provided by the National Safety Council shows hormones play a large part in teen behavior. Teens tend to seek out experiences that give them a rush, which contributes toward an adolescent tendency to seek thrills. They are attracted to situations offering high excitement with minimal effort, such as street racing.
Most troubling could be the fact that some teens disregard safety and driving precautions -- most notably wearing seat belts -- that could save their lives in an accident.
"As a father who has taught six children to drive, I think we tend to overestimate their capabilities," said John Ulczycki, executive director of transportation safety with the safety council. "And we tend to allow them to be in situations that they're perhaps not ready for."
Ulczycki added most states award driver's licenses to 16-year-olds, yet rental car companies will not do business with anyone under 25.
Several reasons for that, he said, include the increased likelihood for teens to experience crashes both after dark and while driving with other teens in the car -- while not wearing seat belts.
"It's a function of teens being teens," Ulczycki said. "For each additional passenger you put in that car driven by a teenager, you're doubling the crash risk. Put three or more teenagers in the car, the crash risk goes up to about four times."
Local teen seat belt usage
Recent informal surveys conducted at area high schools revealed startling information on how many teens fail to buckle up. Of 108 vehicles that pulled away from the Port Charlotte High School junior and senior parking lot Monday, about 90 percent of the students -- 98 --were wearing their seat belts. The numbers go down from there. Of 223 cars leaving Lemon Bay High School on the afternoon of April 7, 155 were driven by teens wearing seat belts (69.5 percent). On April 9 at North Port High School, 54 drivers were observed wearing seat belts out of a total of 94 cars (57.4 percent). On April 8 at DeSoto County High School, only 38 of 89 cars exiting the school parking lot contained a teen driver wearing a seat belt (42.6 percent).
A majority of the vehicles at Port Charlotte High passed Greg Voigt, an English composition and Latin instructor at the school, who stood between a portable classroom and the parking lot's main entrance.
Voigt was assigned to watch this parking lot at the beginning of the year, with a primary duty of making sure there were no after-school problems.
But after a while, Voigt noticed that many of the students weren't buckling up. He then made a point of making sure the kids buckled their belts.
He uses hand signals imitating a person putting on a seat belt and yells at vehicles with rolled-down windows, telling the drivers and passengers to "Click it!"
In extreme cases, Voigt said he has been known to stand in front of the vehicle until it stops, where he then instructs the occupants to buckle their safety belts.
"It feels good that these kids are coming out of here with their seat belts on," he said. "I've seen a lot of changes for the better. Who knows, if they get in a car accident, me standing here everyday may help save their lives."
And as the numbers illustrated, most of the students wear their belts, including Ben Umbras, 17, and Lauren Vanskiver, 16.
Both said they always wear their belts and make their passengers buckle up, not only for safety reasons but also to save them the pain of paying tickets.
But 18-year-old Allan Worst isn't as strict with his passengers -- or with himself.
In fact, Worst said he will always wear a seat belt if he is in the front seat, but never when he's a backseat rider.
"I just trust it," he said. "I've been doing that since I was a kid, and my mom does the same. I've never been in a car accident, and neither has my mom. I just don't worry about it."
Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda has taken a proactive stance in the matter. As part of an effort to educate students on seat-belt use, Principal Barney Duffy personally stands out in the parking lot to direct traffic on many days, as he did Friday.
Duffy theorized perhaps the presence of school and law enforcement officials serves as a potent reminder to students.
"We're out here," Duffy said, "and we bark at them."
Friday, 81 of 89 Charlotte High School student drivers were observed wearing a seat belt (91 percent).
By the numbers
Marcia Lich of the Florida Department of Transportation's safety office revealed grim numbers for teen drivers in Charlotte, DeSoto and Sarasota counties in 2006. According to FDOT's crash database, drivers between 15 and 19 years of age were involved in 369 Charlotte County crashes, 52 DeSoto County crashes and a whopping 682 Sarasota County crashes.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has reported the national crash rate per mile driven for 16- to 19-year-olds is four times the rate for drivers 20 and older. Risk is highest at age 16. The fact that fewer teens wear seat belts further underscores grim numbers surrounding their likelihood to survive a serious crash.
The following are some statistics about teenage Florida drivers, supplied by the Florida Department of Transportation:
* Florida teens are 14 percent more likely to die in a crash than any other drivers.
* 37,355 teen drivers between the ages of 15 and 19 were involved in crashes on Florida's roadways in 2004.
* 1,062 of those teen drivers were impaired by alcohol.
* 396 of those crashes were fatal.
* 50,579 teen drivers between the ages of 15 and 19 were involved in crashes on Florida's roadways in 2005, resulting in 560 deaths and 46,665 injuries.
Seat belts are the most effective safety devices in vehicles today, estimated to save about 9,500 lives each year. Yet only 68 percent of the motor vehicle occupants are buckled. And a large number of them are teenagers.
Compared with other age groups, however, teens have the lowest rate of seat-belt use, according to the Centers For Disease Control. In a 2006 report, the CDC revealed 10 percent of high school students in 2005 stated they rarely or never wore seat belts when riding with someone else. The report went on to say male high school students (12.5 percent) were more likely than female students (7.8 percent) to rarely or never wear seat belts. In addition, black students (13.4 percent) and Hispanic students (10.6 percent) were more likely than white students (9.4 percent) to rarely or never wear seat belts.
Florida's current safety belt law requires all front-seat occupants to be restrained, even if the vehicle is equipped with an air bag. The driver is held responsible for passengers under 18 years of age who are not buckled up. The law applies to all cars, pickup trucks and vans operated on Florida's roads. The penalty for violation is $30 plus other legal assessments.
A case might be made for high school officials -- and parents -- to get more involved in monitoring teens' seat-belt use.
Ulczycki saw wisdom in that.
"Sometimes we tend to think that laws can solve all our problems," Ulczycki said. "I think (seat belt) laws will help, but a law will never replace good parenting and a law will never substitute for good behavior."
Seat belt tips for kids, Courtesy of the National Safety Belt Coalition:
* If your vehicle has a passenger air bag, it is essential for children 12 and under to ride in back.
* Infants should ride in rear-facing restraints (in the back seat) until age 1 and under 20-22 pounds
* Infants weighing 20 pounds before 1 year of age should ride in a restraint approved for higher rear-facing weights.
* Children over age one and at least 20 pounds may ride facing forward.
* Keep harness straps snug over the child's shoulders. Place the chest clip at armpit level.
* Keep your child in a safety seat with a full harness at least until 40 pounds.
* A belt-positioning booster seat is preferred for children between 40-80 pounds.
* The adult lap-and-shoulder belt system alone will not fit most children until they are at least 4-foot, 9-inches tall and weigh about 80 pounds.
For more information about teen drivers and safety, log on to the following Web sites:
* National Safety Council -- www.nsc.org
* Florida Department of Transportation -- www.dot.state.fl.us
* Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles -- www.flhsmv.gov
* The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety -- www.iihs.org