Teen drivers may pose increasing risk to other motorists

New Jersey motorists face a significant risk from the teens with whom they share the roads. According to accident statistics, drivers under the age of 21 account for a far larger percentage of fatal alcohol-related wrecks than should be reasonably expected considering how many of them have licenses. Some research has even shown that out of all the teenagers who get into accidents in the U.S., 33 percent do so after becoming intoxicated.

Among teens, using devices like cellphones while operating motor vehicles is known to contribute to even more annual deaths than driving while impaired. Studies say that such behaviors lead to drastically reduced reaction times and heightened chances of a collision, even when simply reaching for a phone or talking on a device.

Analysts say that around 2,000 impaired teen drivers perish each year in motor vehicle accidents. Many who are involved in accidents are found to have BACs that are up to five times the legal limit. Factors like binge drinking, which occurs in some 16 percent of the teen population, and beginning to use alcohol earlier in life may also raise the chances that a teen might get into a DUI accident. Although laws are in place to combat texting, drinking and other dangerous behaviors that affect teens more commonly, statistics have also shown that 20 percent of 16-year-old drivers have wrecks within a year of starting to drive.

Those who are injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by a young impaired or distracted driver often face high medical bills and lengthy periods of rehabilitation. Although at-fault motorists can be charged with criminal infractions, their punishments may fail to provide for the people they hurt. In many cases, injured victims might want to obtain the advice of a personal injury attorney in order to determine if there is an available method of obtaining compensation for the losses they have incurred.