Summer time is one of the best times of the year because the wealth of sunny days can make the most stressful day less gruesome. For one group of drivers, the carefree days of summer can spell an increased risk of danger. Summer time for teenage drivers is the most deadly time of year since school is no longer in session and teenagers have more opportunity to drive.

During the summer months of June, July and August, car accidents involving teens are at their highest. According to AAA, summer is the deadliest time of year for teenage drivers and passengers since summer months contain seven of the 10 most deadly days of the year for teenage driving. Those seven days occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

According to a AAA study, over 7,300 teen drivers and passengers ages 13 to 19 died in car accidents between the holidays of Memorial Day and Labor Day over the five year time period between 2005 and 2009. Parents are urged to remind their teenage drivers and passengers to think about safety when cruising down the road with their high school friends.

In order to improve teenage driving and reduce the number of teenage car accidents, many states have implemented graduated teenage driving laws. Pennsylvania; however, has not updated its graduated driving laws for a good number of years.

The public seems to be behind tougher teenage driving laws and generally favors stricter highway law enforcement. A recent AAA poll shows that the majority of the public in Pennsylvania wants tougher teenage driving laws and the vast majority of the public favor a law that would restrict the number of passengers teenager drivers could have.

Source: The Times Herald, “AAA: Summer is deadliest time for teen drivers,” Carl Hessler Jr., 6/13/11