As parents of teenagers may already know, teens generally do not have the same maturity that adults do. This immaturity combined with a sense that nothing bad could ever happen to them may cause teens to driver recklessly, leading to a motor vehicle accident. Even responsible teens can cause car crashes due to mere inexperience. In fact, one recent report states that Missouri is a particularly bad state when it comes to teen driving.
According to the report, Missouri ranks as the 48th worst state for teen driving in two of the three categories the report analyzed. One category was “safety.” This category analyzed fatal car accidents, drunk driving and using a cellphone while behind the wheel. The other category was “driving laws.” This category analyzed state laws regarding drunk driving and distracted driving, and how lenient these laws treated drunk driving violations.
When a teen — or a person of any age, for that matter — causes a motor vehicle accident, the results can be devastating. While sometimes the parties to the crash walk away from the accident relatively unharmed, many are not that lucky. Car accidents can cause serious, sometimes permanent, injuries. In the worst of cases, car crashes can be fatal.
It is important to hold drivers accountable when they cause a crash that injures or kills another person. One way to do this is through a personal injury lawsuit. In such a claim, if it can be shown that the motorist breached their duty to drive safely, and that breach caused another person to suffer damages, the victim may be able to pursue compensation. This is known as the tort of “negligence.” However, the posts on this blog do not contain legal advice, so those who believe they may have grounds to pursue a legal claim following a motor vehicle accident will want to seek the legal guidance they need to better understand their options.