Thinking about buying a car for your teenaged driver? You may be tempted by some of the older car deals floating around – a good price for a vehicle that will get your child where he or she wants to go. But before you sign the dotted line on that car purchase agreement, you may want to take another look at just how old the car is, and what this could mean if your teen driver gets into a car crash.
According to a recent study published in the journal Injury Prevention, nearly half of all teenaged drivers who were killed in traffic crashes from 2008 to 2012 were driving cars that were more than ten years old. The study, which looked at data from the US Fatality Analysis Reporting System, found that the older cars often lacked important safety features such as side airbags and electronic stability control (ESC).
Research has shown ESC helps to reduce fatal single car crashes by about a half and fatal multiple car crashes by 20%. It may be a particularly good safety feature for young drivers to have, as it detects when a car is skidding and applies both braking and steering control, and the study authors note that teenaged drivers are at higher risk of crashes that involve the loss of control.
Of the vehicles which were involved in the deaths of teenaged drivers during the period study, 82% were at least six years old, 34% were between six and ten years old, 31% were 11 to 15 years old and 17% were more than 15 years old. The size of the vehicle also was a factor. Compared to 20% of the middle aged drivers in the study were fatally injured while driving a mini or small car, 29% of the teenaged drivers were killed while driving a smaller car. Twenty-three percent of teenaged drivers were killed while driving mid-sized cars, compared to 16% of middle aged drivers.
What can parents take away from these study results? When purchasing a car for your teen driver, age may have a detrimental impact on safety features which could be a key factor in reducing the risk of injury and death in the event of a car crash.
If you or someone you love has been injured in a Los Angeles traffic accident, Bradley I. Kramer and his experienced legal team are here to help you obtain the compensation to which you are entitled. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.