While the stories may sometimes be a little overblown, there is considerable truth behind the common perception that teenage drivers tend to cause car accidents at a higher rate. For example, recent statistics showed that, financially, teenage drivers are costing more than their fair share when it comes to car accidents.
Specifically, teen drivers account for 8.4% of all costs related to accidents involving a bodily injury. However, drivers ages 15 through 19 make up only 6.5% of the total population nationwide. On another rather grim note, motor vehicle accidents remain the leading cause of death for people ages 16 through 19.
Fortunately, Virginia’s teen drivers seem to be a bit safer than those in other states. Overall, Virginia’s environment for teen driving ranks 7th among the states for safety. The safety category of this survey includes points like how many teenagers die in fatal collisions in this state and how many Virginia teens get caught driving drunk or high.
On the other hand, when it comes to having laws in place to protect teen drivers and other motorists, such as a graduated licensing system, Virginia ranks only 30th, so one could say that perhaps our commonwealth has just gotten lucky to this point. Overall, Virginia ranked as the 16th safest state for teenage driving.
Unfortunately, not every accident involving a careless teen driver will be a single-vehicle incident. Many times, these young drivers whether through inexperience or irresponsibility will cause car crashes that injure other motorists as well. In these sorts of cases, victims may consider pursuing compensation for their medical bills, lost wages and other damages.
