Memorial Day brought the unofficial start to summer, which experts have dubbed the "100 deadliest days" for teen drivers.
With school letting out in coming weeks, many teens will soon be thinking about summer camps, vacations and hitting the road.
But according to AAA, the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day is when teenage crash fatalities typically soar.
The reason: Teenagers are out of school and have more time to cruise the roads, but they're also new drivers who are inexperienced at handling varied driving situations.
When combined with distractions like friends and technology in the car, teens are even more at risk. Their crash rates are higher than any other age group, and AAA says 60 percent of teen crashes are caused by distractions.
"If you're a parent of a teen, you need to have that conversation with them about their driving habits — how much they're on their cell phone, how much they're taking to their friends and having conversations," said Matt Nasworthy, a traffic safety consultant with AAA in Tampa. "We found that cell phones and passengers are the top two distractions for teens. If they can limit those, it's going to have a dramatic impact on how safe they are behind the wheel."
In a new report released Tuesday morning, the auto club said 371,645 people were injured and 2,927 were killed in crashes involving a teen driver in 2013 alone.
Earlier this month, a 17-year-old boy was killed and two 14-year-old boys were injured in a crash in Deltona.
AAA suggests several ways for teen drivers to increase safety on the roadways:
- Limit the number of passengers in a vehicle, and the conversations in which they're engaging.
- Stop cell phone use, and keep your mind on the task of driving.
- Your hands should be on the wheel, and your eyes need to be on the road.
Of course, teen drivers don't just put themselves at risk. AAA studies show that nearly two-thirds of people hurt or killed in crashes involving a teen driver are people other than the teen behind the wheel.