As many people may know, motor vehicle crashes are the second leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States.

These accidents could take place as a result of a couple of different reasons such as distracted driving, driving with other teenage passengers, eating, texting, speeding, and inexperience.

Alexandrea Sipley, a senior, talks about how it would be very easy to avoid many accidents if kids focused on paying more attention to basic rules and following them.

“I know so many people that have gotten in accidents for very stupid reasons like texting or eating and I find it very disappointing because it’s so easy to avoid all these things for the sake of your own safety,” Sipley said.

The risk of motor vehicle crashes are higher among teenagers of ages 16-19 than among any other age group.

However, these motor vehicle accidents are easily preventable and there are numerous proven strategies that can help teenagers be safer on the road.

Teenagers should focus more on paying attention to the road, following the speed limit, putting the seatbelt on, not texting and driving and never driving under the influence which are all basic rules even though they’re the leading causes of accidents.

Eva Tarkington, a junior, talks about how paying attention to small details can help prevent a lot of bad accidents from happening.

“Paying attention to little details like putting your seatbelt on and looking at street signs can be so significant in avoiding crashes and deaths among teenagers and it should be talked about more and given more attention,” Tarkington said.

Teachers, parents, and experienced drivers in general should put more effort into teaching younger and unexperienced drivers about safe driving to prevent any tragic deaths from happening and to lessen the rates of accidents among teenagers.