CARMEL – Auto accidents are the leading cause of death among today’s teenagers, with six out of 10 teen auto crashes resulting from driver inattention.
Parents as Driving Partners, a partnership between the Putnam County Clerk’s Office, the county Probation Department, the county’s STOP DWI Program, the Sheriff’s Department, and the Putnam Traffic Safety Board, hopes to reduce those frightening statistics by promoting safe driving habits among the teenage population.
Putnam has partnered with Dutchess County for the initiative that emphasizes the role of parents in promoting safe driving habits in teens.
Developed by the Putnam Youth Bureau, a booklet containing basic guidelines to assist parents in their role as driving partners has been published that includes a Parent/Teen Driving Agreement.
Youth Bureau Director Janine Cunningham noted the agreement outlines the responsibilities of parents and teens in promoting safe driving.
Cunningham said the statistics were terrifying. “Not only are teens unnecessarily dying on our roads due to driver inexperience, but 16-year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age and one-third of deaths among 13- to 19-year-olds occur as the result of auto crashes.”
The pact urges parents to support their child while they are driving, teach proper techniques, and model safe driving behaviors for them. The agreement also asks teens to obey safety rules and regulations, never drive while impaired, drive only with parental permission, and never drive while using a cell phone.
The Centers for Disease Control recently reported that about 2,800 U.S. teens ages 13–19 were killed and about 227,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2023.
The motor vehicle crash death rate for male drivers aged 16–19 years was three times as high as the death rate for female drivers in the same age group that year.
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