Project Safe School Year is a new plan put in place this week within five Fort Zumwalt District high schools. The overall hope is to raise safe driver awareness while also tracking accidents caused and suffered by Missouri teens.
The policy will also allow police to monitor seat belt use and drinking with random high school parking lot checks. They can then also ensure that teens turn off their cell phones when behind the wheel.
Schools will be evaluated based on the number of car accidents, seat belt usage, drinking and driving data and what kids do with their cell phones. The school determined to have the safest teen drivers will receive tickets to a pro-sporting event.
According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, October, December, November and May are the most dangerous months of the year for Missouri drivers. In 2009, there were 7,477 Missouri car accidents reported in October, 7,308 in December, 6,762 in November and 6,548 in May. Drivers aged 16-20 represent the second highest fatality group among statewide motorists, reporting 89 fatalities and 4,993 injury car accidents last year. Overall, this age group was responsible for 13.6 percent of all reported car accidents, or more than 18,000 crashes.
As St. Louis, Missouri injury attorneys, we handle teen accident crashes daily. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, contact us for a free evaluation.