While intoxicated driving as a factor in auto accidents has declined, Atlanta car accident lawyers find that it still continues to be a major cause of teen-related accidents.A teen motorist, who was driving the car involved in an accident that killed a teenage passenger, has pleaded guilty to charges of drunken driving and vehicular homicide.
The teen driver was 17 years old at the time of the accident.He was driving with two teenagers in his car, when his car flipped over.A sixteen-year-old teenage passenger was killed in the accident and another teenager was seriously injured.Last week, the driver pleaded guilty to charges of drunk driving and vehicle manslaughter, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The three teenagers had been at a party in Douglasville, where a lot of teenagers were drinking alcohol.Several people have already been charged with supplying alcohol to minors in this case.According to authorities, many of these people supplied alcohol to teenagers at two different parties that the victim attended on the night of the accident.
Motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of death for teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 in the United States.The number of teenagers dying in accidents has remained more or less consistent, even as the overall number of people dying in traffic accidents has dropped.
There are many reasons why teenagers may be more susceptible to accidents.The biggest factor is that these drivers are inexperienced, and lack the driving skills necessary to navigate traffic.Driving requires not just knowledge of gears and pedals, but also the ability to judge other motorists’ speed and driving abilities, the ability to look out for distractions from other vehicles, and other skills.Teen drivers lack these skills because they have not been driving for long.
Additionally, teen drivers may be more susceptible to drunk driving, because of a lack of appreciation for the risks of DUI. Underage drinking is a serious problem in Georgia, and when you combine alcohol use with a teen driver’s limited driving experiences, the consequences can be deadly.
There are other reasons why these motorists are such a high-risk category of drivers.They may be more prone to recklessness, especially when they’re driving with friends.Teenagers are at a high risk of accidents when they are traveling with teenage passengers.This is not just because of peer pressure that encourages dangerous driving practices like recklessness or drunk riving, but also the distracting effect of having passengers in the car.Distracted driving among teen motorists involves not just the use of cell phones and texting devices, but also distractions from friends in the car.This is why a teenager’s risk of an accident increases with the number of teen passengers in the car.It is also the reason why many graduated driver’s licensing programs place restrictions on the number of teenagers that a teen driver can have in his car while driving.