Teens Have A Lot to Learn When it Comes to Driving

Oct 20, 2014 01:40 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

Getting your driver's license is the most important thing in the world for some teens. Being able to go anywhere with your friends without having to have a parent take you seems like a dream. Well a new study released this week says a lot of teens still have a lot to learn about how to drive safely even after passing their road test.

A majority of teens, 78 percent to be exact, say that anticipating the actions of other drivers will always be the hardest aspect of driving and 65 percent of teen drivers believe that they sometimes or every time find themselves in situations behind the wheel that they are "not prepared for," according to information released by the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) in a company release.

The survey was published at the start of National Teen Driver Safety Week.

The survey, which was conducted at IKnowEverything Challenge events, tested teen driving safety knowledge among more than 2,000 high school students across the U.S.

"More than half of the students we surveyed did not receive a passing grade on our I Know Everything Teen Driving Safety Challenge," said Ralph Blackman, president and CEO of the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, in a company press statement. "Teen driver safety is much more than simply knowing the rules of the road. It takes a lot of parental instruction and hours of driving experience before a novice teen driver is fully prepared to drive."

Almost 90 percent of teens are capable of identifying distracted driving behaviors, and 91 percent know to keep their seat belt fastened and tell others to buckle up. Eighty six percent know how to drive safely when using a GPS, according to the survey results.

Teens had trouble in some areas however. Only 67 percent didn't understand how to safely navigate a complicated driving situation, and 60 percent didn't know what to do when a speeding car approached them from behind.

The survey helped researchers discover that 35 percent didn't know what to do when an emergency vehicle approached at a red light

"Driver inexperience combined with developing brains that are hard-wired for risk-taking in the teen years means that teen drivers are at high risk for crashes," said Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), according to the release.

GHSA, IKnowEverything's newest partner, will work to implement the program in a number of states over the next year. The company has evens scheduled beginning this week in Tennessee and Kentucky.

"Teens learn a lot and know a lot about driving but it takes years of practice and teaching for them to know how to react in real-life driving scenarios and peer pressure situations," saidSandy Spavone, executive director of The Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). "There are important tips teens can follow as they learn to drive and FCCLA has made it a priority to improve teen driving safety laws in the states."

Some teens have trouble dealing with pressure situations.

- 25 percent don't know how to handle a passenger who is drinking in their car

-27 percent don't know how to safely get home when their driver has been drinking alcohol

-38 percent are not sure how to handle a friend distracting them while driving

"Our experience working with teens over the past 10 years supports the results of this study. Teens in general lack experience in key advanced driving skill areas such as vehicle handling, hazard recognition, and speed and space management. Furthermore, the issues of distracted and impaired driving are a real concern for teens and adults alike. Ford Driving Skills for Life addresses all these issues in both our free hands-on driving clinics as well as our web-based training", said Jim Graham, manager, Ford Driving Skills for Life, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services, according to the release.

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