The Irvine Police Department said that neither drugs nor alcohol seemed to cause the accident that killed 18 year-old Northwood High School student Han Hung, and hospitalized his female passenger today after Hung lost control of his Acura and hit a tree, according to an article in the OC Register.
The cause of this terrible accident wasn’t stated in the new article but I do know that one of the primary factors involved in teenage auto accidents, especially single vehicle accidents, is driver distraction. Distraction by passengers is one of the biggest contributors, that is why young drivers have restrictions relating to who can ride in the vehicle with them.
A study done by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia , which surveyed more than 5,000 high school students, found that:
90 percent of teens said friends in the car distracted the driver
89 percent of teens said their friends used cell phones while they drove
79 percent of teens said passengers or the driver danced and sang in the car
20 percent of ninth- through 11th-graders have been involved in at least one crash as
a passenger in the last year.
A study cited by injuryprevention.com indicates that today’s highways are more congested, and more complex, requiring skills which younger drivers may not yet possess. Further, the study clearly found that younger drivers are at a higher danger of having a traffic accident when passengers are present-the more passengers, the higher the danger. [3]
According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration [NHTSA], traffic accidents were the leading cause of death for ages 4-34, in 2007.
Please drive with attention to the task at hand. If you or someone you love has been injured in a traffic accident, call our experienced California Personal Injury Lawyers at 1-800-259-6373.