The first thing most people do when they get their license is drive around almost anywhere. It’s an exciting thing when you’re able to go wherever you want and most of the time people want company in the car with them when they’re driving. Having other passengers in the vehicle isn’t a bad thing until music becomes a topic, which means the person driving as well as the person in the second seat begin to mess with the radio or even worse, the aux cord which is usually connected to a phone or device that already has songs downloaded on it.

Distracted driving is more of an issue for teen drivers because they’re still new to the road and immature when it comes to being as responsible as they should be. It’s a fact that teen drivers with other passengers are more likely to be distracted by what’s going on inside the car before an actual car crash. Males that drive with their friends are approximately six times more likely to demonstrate illegal manners and also drive with more aggression before getting into an accident other than when they’re driving alone. Females are less likely to drive aggressive whether they have other people in the car or if they’re driving by themselves.

90 percent of teens realize that the behavior of passengers distracts the driver from focusing on the road. With such a high percentage, there should be rules and guidelines that are strongly forced upon new drivers to ensure that everyone out there will be safe at all times.

There shouldn’t be any other passengers for the first six months of being on the road alone and no more than 1 other passenger for the second six months of solo driving. This rule should be enforced among all teen drivers. It’s been proven that teens that follow behind guidelines such as this one are less likely to get into accidents and are well behaved behind the wheel. Other than music, there are many other distractions to face while driving such as:

Texting

Eating

Grooming

Setting up GPS

It’s important to do all of these things before getting behind the wheel to ensure that everyone inside the vehicle, including yourself, gets to your destination safely. Nothing is more valuable than a life, which can be taken very easily over something as small as looking in the other direction for a second, or eating a quick snack, so remember to always be focused on the road and to not get distracted.