Who Is The Best Driver?

There has been a long time debate over who is the best driver, but who do studies show to be the riskiest drivers on the road?

A majority would probably guess teenagers and elderly drivers are the riskiest to share the road with and they would be right. While this is not to say that there are not good drivers in this category, there is proven data that shows mile for mile that teens and elderly drivers are more likely to get in car crashes.

But why is this?

For teens this could be a number of different reasons with the top choice going to the fact that they just aren’t as experienced in driving as compared to a middle age driver. Older drivers have a longer time in experience behind the wheel, but with age their ability to perceive risk and reaction time goes down. On top of all of this we live in a world full of distractions. Teenagers can easily get distracted by the text messages they just received or maybe they’re jamming out to their music. Well it will be too late to say sorry if they get so distracted and rear end another person waiting at the red light. Older drivers may be less susceptible to distractions, but not completely checking their blind spots before they merge into the lane next to them is more likely.

Fortunately, there are programs set up to help these teens and elderly be prepared for a lot of different things on the road. For teens there are many new safety features in cars that won’t allow cell phone use and defensive driver courses teens can take with their parents in an controlled environment that will prepare them for the real road. For seniors there are courses they can take to make sure their abilities are 100 percent checking for cognitive and physical abilities, such as being able to get in and out of the car, blind spot checking, and response times. If you or someone you know gets in a car accident call us at Handy and Handy in Salt Lake City and we will help through this time.