Each day drivers of all ages take to the roads to get from one place to another. Some of the individuals behind the wheel are teens. As most people are aware, not all of the actions taken by drivers of this age are the result of what can be considered good choices. These bad choices can lead to motor vehicle accidents. While many car accidents are not serious, others are and can lead to catastrophic injuries, even death.

Most parents of teens residing in Butler County would likely do whatever they could to try to reduce the number of car accidents involving teens that occur. Fortunately, in honor of the Department of Transportation's National Teen Driver Safety Week, the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has provided some suggestions on what parents of teen drivers can do to try to impress upon their children the importance of safe driving.

The crux of its advice is to have an open dialogue about a variety of things including:

• The use of handheld devices such as cellphones while driving.
• What time of day the teen can drive and who he or she can have as passengers
• The importance of regularly wearing a seatbelt
• Making the decision to not drink and drive

The NHTSA also suggests committing the rules discussed to paper in the form of a contract which all parties sign.

While most parents will recognize these suggestions as a good idea without any additional persuasion, for good measure we will provide a reason for discussing the matter anyway. In 2010, 1,963 young people died while behind the wheel of a vehicle involved in a car accident. During that same period of time, 187,000 teens were injured due to the same thing.

Source: Los Angeles Times, "Traffic safety officials offer guidelines for safe teen driving," Jerry Hirsch, Oct. 15, 2012

• Our law firm handles case in which someone is hurt in a collision. If you would like to learn more about our practice, please visit our Pittsburgh car accidents page.