Car accidents continue to remain the number one cause of death for American teenagers.  That fact of life has not changed despite the decline in traffic accident fatalities over the past few years.  Now, a new study by Ford Motor Company seems to indicate that many undesirable teen driving practices like speeding and distracted driving, may be picked up right at home.

According to the survey, 82% of teenagers reported seeing their parents displaying undesirable driving practices on the road.  These practices include driving at excessive speeds and using a cell phone or texting while driving.  As a Houston car accident attorney, what I find even scarier is that many parents seem to be unaware of their dangerous driving.  Approximately 95% of the parents in the survey rated themselves as being “good” drivers, but more than half of the teens and tweens surveyed said that they frequently had to admonish their parents for bad driving.

The survey also confirms that parents are the best line of defense against poor driving by teen motorists.  More than 75% of the tweens and 66% of the teenage drivers in the survey said that they were strongly influenced by their parents’ driving.  With those statistics, it is scary to think about how many parents around the country are sending out bad driving messages to their children.

I’d like to see parents get more responsible about setting good driving examples for their children.  Stay within speed limits, and switch off cell phones while driving.  Avoid aggressive driving, road rage, and other undesirable behavior that could be unwittingly passed on to your child.

Vuk Vujasinovic is a Board Certified Houston personal injury attorney who practices Houston auto accident and other personal injury cases.

For more info on how Vuk can help you with your potential case please call him at (877) 724-7800 or fill out the contact form on the right.

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