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Teens more distracted when a peer is in the car

On Behalf of | Apr 14, 2020 | Blog, Car Accidents

Perhaps you were injured at the hands of a teen driver, or it was your teen who was involved in a crash. If the injuries were serious, then you may be able to file a personal injury claim here in New Jersey. A lot depends, of course, on who was at fault and to what degree.

Teens are inexperienced drivers and tend to become easily distracted even by those things that adult drivers are not affected by: for example, conversations with passengers. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says that having a single peer in the car can raise a teen driver’s risk for a crash by 44%.

No young passengers for the first year

For this reason, parents are advised to have their teens go without young passengers for their first year as licensed drivers. If they can go without young passengers for six months, that would still be better than nothing.

In this state, a provisional licensee can have one additional passenger besides parents, guardians or dependents. This passenger can be a sibling. However, safety experts warn parents not to have their teens drive their siblings even when they obtain a full driver’s license. Siblings can be more distracting to teens than their friends since they know one another better and what makes them laugh or get angry.

Placing limits when teens ride with other teens

Parents are also advised to limit those times when their teens ride with a peer. Some critical questions that parents could ask include how far they will be driving, where they are driving to, how long the driver has been licensed and whether they will be traveling at night.

Lawyer serving all of North Jersey

You may be wondering if you can seek compensation for the injuries that you or your teen incurred in an MVA. Again, New Jersey being a no-fault state, there are limits on who can file a third-party insurance claim, so it may be wise to have a lawyer evaluate the case. A lawyer may also be helpful when gathering proof and negotiating a settlement.

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