Teens and Tire Safety – Critical Message for Young Motorists

Young drivers are not being adequately prepared to be safe motorists on the road. A personal injury lawyer knows that teens are the age group most likely to be involved in an accident as a result of their inexperience. Unfortunately, driver education programs are often not comprehensive enough to help young people avoid some of the pitfalls that can lead to accidents.

Teens are not only inexperienced at actually operating their vehicles, but they also don’t know what to look for or how to respond when there is a problem with their cars. Many young people know little or nothing about car maintenance or about common issues that can arise and make their vehicles unfit for the road. One major problem, for example, is that many teenagers simply do not know the basics of tire safety.

Teens Need More Education on Safe Tires

Health News Digest recently reported on the problem that many teenagers are not being taught about vehicle maintenance or tire safety. Driver education is being cut in many schools due to budget shortfalls and a lot of young people no longer have access to a driver’s ed program, choosing instead to take a minimum required course that they need to get their license. As a result, these young people do not get the education that is provided in a full driver’s ed course.

Even teens who do take driver’s ed may not be getting proper advice and information on tire safety. Just 16 states require that the driver’s education curriculum include a lesson on checking and maintaining tires. Further, only seven states include information on vehicle maintenance and tire safety as a required part of driver’s education curriculum.

Because of the fact that driver’s ed does not cover tire issues, around 3/4 of teenagers responding to a recent survey said that they learned about tire safety from their parents. This would not be a problem, except for the fact that only around 1/3 of parents surveyed consider themselves to be knowledgeable on the subject of how to take care of tires.

The reality is that around 12 percent of the 2.2 million motor vehicle accidents that occur in the United States every year involve a problem with vehicle tires. This is an average of a tire-related accident around once every two minutes or so.

Tire problems can include worn treads or inadequate tire pressure, and a tire blowout can cause a driver to lose control of the vehicle and endanger himself and others. Teens can learn two simple things and they could have many fewer accidents. They could learn the Lincoln test, which involves putting a penny in the tread of a tire. If Lincoln’s head is seen, the tire tread is too worn. They could also learn how to check the tire pressure and add air if necessary.

Around 300,000 car crashes involving inexperienced drivers could be prevented annually if better driver education was available to young people. Parents need to fill the gap and should talk to their kids today about tire safety.

Columbia South Carolina car accident victims should contact Chad McGowan of McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC at 803-327-7800 or visit https://www.mcgowanhood.com for a free case consultation. Also serving Anderson, SC, Rock Hill, SC, Sumter, SC, and Georgetown, SC, and surrounding areas.