Safety Tips for Young Drivers

Tips for Young Drivers
So you’ve finally got your license. But before you start cruising, consider these driving tips:
  1. Never drive impaired — And we’re not just talking drugs and alcohol: medication or a late-night study session can affect your ability to drive.
  2. Avoid distractions — Cell phones, iPods, and even food can distract you long enough to cause a crash. Pull over when you need to.
  3. Stick to the limit — Speeding reduces your ability to react to an emergency situation and increases the distance you need to stop.

Young and inexperienced drivers can be a hazard to themselves and to others using the road. In fact, car crashes are the #1 cause of death and injury of BC youth aged 13 to 21, resulting in 76 deaths and almost 10,000 injuries in 2005.*
*Police Traffic Accident System Data and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia

In fact, while youth drivers between 16 and 21 years of age account for eight per cent of all BC drivers, they are involved in 20 per cent of fatal collisions in the province. Speed and alcohol are the top two contributing factors in these crashes.

Resources you can use to help make your youth driver safer include:

ICBC Geared 2 Youth section – this section on the www.icbc.com site is designed to help make youth aware of the dangers they face while becoming better drivers.

Young and new driver resource centre – this section on the www.trafficinjuryresearch.com site offers detailed information on driver education, trends and available programs.