Summer is deadliest time of year for teens

The three month stretch between Memorial Day and Labor Day is undoubtedly the most anticipated time of the year for students.  It’s also the deadliest time for teens. Known as the 100 Deadliest days, June – August has many more drivers on the road, including novice drivers. AAA reports in 2013, 43% more teens were involved in fatal crashes during this time period, compared to the rest of they year.

Maryland State Police have their patrols looking particularly for people using handheld devices while driving. Sergeant Jenean Lawson of MSP in Salisbury tells 47ABC “with the younger ages the maturity level isn’t as high as that of an adult – that’s where we’re going to rely on hopefully the parents can instill some responsibility and start enforcing some good habits.” 47ABC spoke with one Eden woman who is doing just that. As a mother, she plans on telling her young drivers “don’t use your phone when driving. Just turn it off, whatever it is it can wait.” 

And on Delmarva, many teens head to the beaches in the summer, but one check of a text could end up in the emergency room, or even result in death.  Lawson, while referring to checking your phone while driving, says ” you can get complacent and since think nothing happened, that it won’t. But in just a few seconds you can miss a traffic light turning red, you can miss a stop sign, you could miss someone pulling out in front of you, and that can be very detrimental.”  Lawson adds that it’s not just teens either, and says no matter what, everyone needs to focus on one thing: driving.