According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, car accidents are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States. Getting into a car accident is a traumatizing enough experience, but the situation may be further complicated if the driver is a teenager.

Drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are the most likely to be involved in a car accident. In fact, that age group is three times more likely to be in an accident than drivers 20 years and older. When it comes to the death rates of teenagers involved in a car accident, male drivers are twice as likely to be in a fatal crash than females.

More than 30,000 people are killed in car crashes each year. Considering teen drivers have the highest probability to be involved in a crash, there is a good possibility that you may get in a car accident with a teenage driver. Although the majority of teen drivers have recently completed driver education courses and should have a fresh memory of safety, accidents with teenage drivers are often caused by reckless activity.

Pulling up next to a semi-truck makes many drivers nervous. Trucks are not only intimidating in size but in the United States, can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds on the road. Truck accidents are more complicated than car accidents because there are more factors involved. During a car accident, it is usually more apparent whos fault the accident was, but during a truck accident, it may be either driver or one of the companies behind the truck.

We rely on trucks and truck services to bring goods across the country. A semi-truck sees an average of 45,000 miles of usage a year. Truck drivers and their vehicles get worn down and it is important for companies to stay on top of maintenance and driving hours. When a truck is involved in an accident, here are some instances where the driver or company who owns the truck can be held liable.

Long Hours - Fatigue is one of the leading causes of truck accidents. Drivers can get pressured into working long hours to fulfill delivery requirements. However, there are limits to how long a driver can legally work. From the beginning of a driving shift, up to 14 consecutive hours, the driver is only allowed to operate the vehicle for 11 hours. After the 14 hours, the driver cannot return to operating the truck for 10 consecutive hours. Even when these rules are followed, a driver can still be fatigued, but following the rules prevents the driver or truck company from being liable for the accident.

The majority of fatalities caused by a semi-truck accident are others in passenger vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. In 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, a total of 4,102 people died as a result of a truck accident. Almost 70 percent of those deaths were passengers or drivers in cars.

Since 2009, the number of passenger deaths caused by truck accidents has increased by 30 percent. However, 2009 also had the lowest amount of passenger deaths since 1975. The 2000s brought a steady decrease in fatalities, until 2010, when the number of deaths began increasing again.  

Factors in Truck Accidents

There is much more into putting a semi-truck on the road than a passenger vehicle. Some of the most common reasons for truck accidents are equipment failure, poor vehicle maintenance, and the improper loading of cargo. Driver error, negligence, and poor weather conditions are also top reasons for accidents involving a semi-truck. Truck drivers can be pressured to be as productive as possible, thus skipping necessary rest. Here are some examples where a truck driver, or company, was found liable for an accident.

Every teenager looks forward to the day they can have the independence of driving. Teenagers as young as fifteen can begin learning how to drive. Once the learning requirements are met, and the child reaches sixteen years old, they can test for an initial license. This license has restrictions like the number of passengers, and more strict mobile device usage while being the wheel. With up to thirty percent of motor vehicle accident costs are attested to teenagers and young adults, there is a chance you may get into an accident with someone driving as young as sixteen years old.

Getting A Driver's License

Anyone who operates a vehicle legally had to work to get a driver’s license. After obtaining a learner’s permit, the teenager must practice driving with a licensed adult for fifty hours. Ten of those hours must be done at night. Once the minimum of driving hours has been reached, and the permit has been active for at least nine months, a sixteen-year-old may receive an initial drivers license. A full license can be applied for between the ages of eighteen and twenty.

When a teen driver gets into a car accident, they are usually covered by their parent’s car insurance. In Illinois, the minimum liability insurance coverage for car accidents is $25,000 for bodily injuries per person, $50,000 total for bodily injuries per accident, and $20,000 for property damage. When adding a teen driver, some parents may increase their insurance above the minimum.

Kane County is no stranger to cold and snowy winters. During the second week of February of this year, St. Charles received over 14 inches of snow over a span of four days. Shoveling the driveway and sidewalk is hard enough, but what happens when you need to operate a vehicle during the harsh Midwest winter?

Statistics

Every year, approximately 900 people are killed in an auto accident during winter precipitation, and 1,300 are killed because of pre-existing road conditions such as snow, ice, or slush. Thousands more are injured, despite almost 75 percent of the United States regularly experiencing winter weather.

In an act of preparing for the harsh winter ahead, here are some tips for keeping safe on the roads, despite unfavorable conditions: