Car Accidents - Minors

Car accidents are dangerous for anyone involved, but some segments of the population are more likely than others to become involved in serious and deadly collisions. Minors and driving are often a deadly combination – in fact, car accidents are the number one killer of young people between the ages of 15 and 20. Ideally, parents should take an active role in their teen’s driving even after the license is earned,  and many parents restrict teenage driving after dark or make a point of spending time in the car with their minor driver to reinforce good habits. Unfortunately, accidents do happen – and when a car accident involves minors, the result is often tragic.

Under Pennsylvania's laws, if you or your child has been injured in a car accident that was caused by another person's carelessness or recklessness, you may be entitled to recover damages that include medical costs, property loss, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Please call Munley, Munley & Cartwright's car accident lawyers toll-free at (800) 318-LAW1 for a free assessment of your case or use our online contact form. We have offices conveniently located in Stroudsburg, Carbondale, Hamlin, Hazleton, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Experienced Teenage Drivers

Minors who have recently received a license have technically earned the right to drive, but many are still learning the road skills necessary to avoid collisions. Quick thinking and constant vigilance are habits that often take years of driving to master, and young drivers can have trouble making a sudden change in lanes or speed to accommodate an unexpected hazard.

One of the most common causes of teenage car accidents is drunk driving. Many experts estimate that as many as 25% of all car accidents involving teenagers are a result of drunk driving, despite the fact that teenagers aren’t legally allowed to purchase alcohol. When minors drink and get behind the wheel, the inherent risks associated with drunk driving are compounded by the lack of driving experience. Alcohol impacts any driver’s reaction time – let alone a teenager who is still learning how to react appropriately on the road.

Another cause of car accidents involving minors is driving at night. While roughly 20% of teen driving occurs at night, half of all teenage driving fatalities happen during the nighttime hours. Lowered visibility combined with a lack of familiarity with the roadways and lack of night driving experience make teenager night driving a risky behavior.

Other sobering facts about car accidents involving minors include:

• Every year more than 5,000 teenagers die in car accidents and 400,000 teen drivers are seriously injured.
• 16- to 19-year-old drivers are at higher risk for car accidents than any other age group.
• Teenagers account for 10% of the United States population, but represent 12% of all fatal car crashes.
• The car accident death rate for teenage male drivers and their passengers is more than 1.5 times higher than that of female teen drivers.
• A teenager's first 500 miles of driving are the most dangerous; during that time, teens are 10 times more likely to crash than an adult.
• Two-thirds of the teenagers who died in car accidents last year were not wearing seat belts.
• 16-year-olds crash at a rate that's nearly one and a half times as high as 17-year-olds.
• Of all fatal teen car accidents, one third involve speeding and one quarter involve alcohol.

Car accidents involving minors often have devastating consequences. Some families suffer the loss of teenaged children involved in collisions, while others may lose a parent or sibling in an accident caused by a young driver. Because of the tremendous loss involved in a car accident with minors, families are often uncertain of their rights to pursue legal compensation or even simply how to determine what went wrong.

Contact Our Car Accident Lawyers Today

The Munley, Munley & Cartwright law firm has years of experience in handling Pennsylvania car accident claims. We treat our clients with compassion and devote serious attention to each case – whether your teenager has been injured in a collision with someone else, or you have lost a loved one due to an auto accident with a minor driver. Car accidents involving alcohol and minors, in particular, can be heartbreaking – but a thorough investigation of the vehicle accident can determine who provided alcohol to the teenage driver. If a liquor store or bar served a minor, the establishment may be held liable in some cases for the subsequent accident and injuries.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a car accident involving minors, you deserve experienced legal representation from a firm who understands the challenges you face as a result of your injuries – and who is committed to obtaining the compensation you deserve.

At Munley, Munley & Cartwright, our goal is to provide exceptional legal services to our clients. We strive to achieve the highest standard of excellence for the protection of individual rights through team work and the use of our considerable resources and experience. For a free consultation regarding your legal concerns, contact us online today or call us toll free at (800) 318-LAW1.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many teenage car accidents involve drunk driving?

Experts estimate that 25% of car accidents involving minors also involve alcohol, even though teenage drivers ostensibly shouldn’t have access to purchase or consume it.

2. Are young male drivers really more likely to die in a car accident than young women – as teenagers, aren’t they all at risk?

While teenagers are certainly the most at-risk driving population in the United States, young male teenagers are still the most dangerous. Teenage male drivers and their passengers have a car accident fatality rate 1.5 times higher than that of teenage female drivers.

3. What other driving behaviors contribute to the high accident rate among teens?

Night driving is especially dangerous for teenage drivers – in fact, it accounts more than half of all fatalities, despite the fact that only 20% of driving by minors occurs at night. Speeding is also a major factor in teen accidents and is involved in one third of all teenage driving fatalities.

4. Once a teenager has received a driver’s license, shouldn’t he or she be considered a safe driver?

Receiving a driver’s license means that a teenager has met the requirements of the Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles. It does not act as a guarantee of safe driving ability or behavior. In fact, the first year or 500 miles that a teen logs behind the wheel are the most dangerous – during this period, the teen is 10 times more likely to become involved in an accident.

5. After teenage drivers, what is the second largest group of car accident fatalities?

Pedestrian accidents account for the second largest group of deaths caused by car accidents. Every eight minutes a pedestrian is hurt in a traffic accident – that’s roughly 65,000 injuries a year, 5,000 of which are fatal.