Virginia Child Injury Lawyer » teen driver

Buckle Up – Prevent Brain Injuries

srohrstaff — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:50:59 +0000

Let’s talk seatbelts.

We make a commitment to keep our children safe in our cars. When they are small, we go to great expense to buy the best car seats we can and spend a lot of time buckling/unbuckling them in and out. But what about when they are older? And, what about buckling ourselves in?

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. Brain injuries don’t just affect those who are injured; they affect everyone around them. If you are a parent and suffer a traumatic brain injury, your children’s lives will be forever altered along with yours. If you are a parent of a teenager who drives, your life will never be the same if she suffers a traumatic brain injury. One way to take care of your family is to be sure seatbelts are used every time anyone gets into a car.

My friend Larry Buckfire, a car accident lawyer in Michigan, posted a short video, Embrace Life, on his website. It is less than two minutes long. There are no words. I suggest you watch it. It is powerful.

If you have a teen driver in your home, show it to her. Watch it with her. It could speak more loudly than your words ever could.

Will Virginia enact a bill that okays cell phone use while driving?

srohrstaff — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:12:36 +0000

Have you ever seen a teenage driver with her hand up to her ear talking on the cell phone while driving down the highway? How about a “mature” driver? Have you ever done it yourself?

The Virginia Senate passed a bill last week that would ban talking on a cell phone while driving unless the driver was using a hands-free device.

This isn’t the first time such a bill has come before the Virginia General Assembly, so its chances of passing are slim. However, I previously posted about the no-texting-while-driving law passed by the General Assembly that went into effect in July 2009, so maybe there’s a better chance at passage this year or next or the year after that or . . .

Driving while distracted is particularly dangerous when an inexperienced driver is behind the wheel, especially when that inexperienced driver is a teenager who is hard wired to believe she is bullet proof and that nothing can hurt her. The bill that goes to the Virginia House of Delegates won’t solve all the problems of distracted drivers, but it will be one more tool that might have an impact on keeping our teens safe.

Or, will it encourage talking on cell phones while driving — a distraction even if both hands are on the wheel.

Teens Driving While Distracted – Yikes!

srohrstaff — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:06:50 +0000

If your teen has a cell phone that she uses to text her friends and if she also drives, there’s a good chance she does both of them at the same time. Teenagers think they are “bullet proof.” I remember being bullet proof — nothing could happen to ME, even when things happened to my friends. As an adult, I came to understand that teens (like younger children) don’t appreciate the consequences of their behavior.

As of July 2009, it is a traffic offense to drive while texting in Virginia. There also are driving laws that apply to teens in particular that carry penalties of restricting (or removing) their right to drive.

I posted a parent-teen driving contract at my firm’s website. It’s designed to give parents an opportunity to talk straight to their teen, to let her now exactly what is expected of her, to get a commitment from her, and to set out the close-to-home consequences of breaking the contract. It’s not the only answer, but it’s one arrow in a parent’s quiver for keeping their teen safe.