Each year, teenagers throughout North Carolina begin experiencing the freedom of driving themselves to and from school. While driving can be convenient for teenagers, early school start times could be leading to them getting into more crashes. Here’s a closer look at a new study showing that later school start times could be beneficial for teen drivers.
The data behind this new study
A team of researchers wanted to analyze how delaying school start times by 70 minutes would affect drowsy driving incidents and car accidents. The participants of this study were 2,100 high school students in Colorado. For this study, students self-reported when they drove while drowsy. A transportation agency provided the data about how often crashes occurred and what time of day they happened.
The effect of later school start times on accidents
After analyzing all of the data they received, researchers found that 20.3% of students reported driving while drowsy compared to 29.3% of drivers reporting the same thing the year before when the school start time was earlier. Researchers also found another promising statistic after school start times got moved forward: The accident rate in that county dropped from 78.9 crashes per 1,000 drivers to 76.6 crashes per 1,000 drivers after moving school start times later in the morning. After looking over the results of this study, researchers noted that later school start times could positively influence the health and well-being of teen drivers throughout the nation.
Unfortunately, it’s still common for teens and other drivers to get behind the wheel while drowsy, potentially leading to a crash. If you were recently injured in an automobile accident and need help, consider speaking with an attorney.
