As a New Jersey motorist, you face certain seasonal dangers, and while snow, ice and inclement weather can make wintertime driving particularly difficult, there are also unique hazards you face when you drive in the summer. At Rosenberg, Kirby, Cahill, Stankowitz & Richardson, we recognize that teenage driver-involved car crashes rise substantially during the time period known as summer’s “100 Deadliest Days,” and we have helped many people who suffered injuries in car wrecks involving teenage drivers and others seek recourse.
According to AAA, the “100 Deadliest Days” fall between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year, which is a time when most students and teenagers are out of school for the summer and more likely to be on the roads. So, just how dangerous is it to be a motorist during summer’s 100 Deadliest Days?
The nation’s roadways see a 14% increase in the number of fatal teenage driver-involved car wrecks between Memorial and Labor Day when compared against the remainder of the year, with an average of 10 people dying daily during summer’s 100 Deadliest Days. In 2016 alone, more than 1,050 people lost their lives in crashes with teenage drivers during this time period, highlighting a clear need to increase educational efforts about the dangers that often accompany driver inexperience.
While inexperience alone can contribute to a teenage driver’s crash risk, certain additional factors, such as speed, are common elements in many teenager-involved fatal crashes. Almost 30 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities involving teenage drivers that occurred during summer’s 100 Deadliest Days also involved speed. You can find more information about car wrecks on our webpage.