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Dangerous behavior and millennial drivers

On Behalf of | Feb 21, 2017 | Car Accidents |

Some West Virginia motorists may be engaging in dangerous behaviors while behind the wheel, such as driving while fatigued, even though they disapprove of them. A survey conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that drivers in the 19-to-24 age range were particularly prone to dangerous behavior. Almost 60 percent of drivers in this age group said they had texted or emailed while driving compared to just over 31 percent of drivers in other age groups. Only 5 percent of drivers across other age groups said that driving more than 10 mph in a school zone was acceptable while more than twice as many 19-to-24-year-old drivers believed this.

Nearly 90 percent of drivers who were between the ages of 19 and 24 said they had been speeding, ran a red light or sent or read a text while driving in the previous month. The next most likely group to do so were the drivers aged 25 to 39 with 79.2 percent reporting these behaviors. The drivers least likely to report this in the past month were ages 16 to 18 and over 75.

However, across all age groups, there appeared to be some hypocrisy. Even though nearly 93 percent of all drivers said that it was wrong to go through a red light when stopping was possible, almost 36 percent said they had done so in the past month.

Unfortunately, all of these behaviors can lead to catastrophic accidents. The lives of people injured in accidents like these may be permanently changed, or the injured individuals might go through a long period of rehabilitation before they can return to work. Medical expenses and lost wages may not be sufficiently covered by insurance payments, so people who have been harmed as a result of another motorist’s negligent drivingmay want to have legal assistance in seeking appropriate compensation through a lawsuit.