Four area men are dead after a tragic accident last week on Eastex Freeway. One more is in critical condition. All five were in their late teens to early twenties. While any fatal car accident is tragic, those involving young people are particularly hard and offer the opportunity for parents to bring up some tough discussions with the young drivers in their homes.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the accident happened as all five men were riding in a blue Ford pick-up truck. The driver swerved from his lane and struck a curb, causing the truck to roll over. Three of the young men were pronounced dead at the scene and another died later at the hospital. The fifth remains in critical condition.

The CDC says car crashes take about 3,000 young lives each year, that they are the No. 1 killer of teens, and the cause of these accidents is largely inexperience.

Teaching young drivers about safety doesn’t occur only when they read their driver’s ed handbook or when they pass their license exam — it happens at home. Parents are the key to teen driving safety, according to the CDC.

They suggest that teens are four times more likely to crash than older drivers. As a parent, there are things you can do to reduce your child’s risk of having an accident. This includes talking about driver’s safety with them, extending their supervised driving period, setting firm rules and curfews, and even drafting a parent-teen contract containing those rules.

About two-thirds of all teen accidents involve cars where one or more teens are in the car. In other words, the more friends your child has in the car, the more at risk they are. Think about limiting the number of other people your teen can transport to one, or even none at all.

Also, fatal teen crashes are about twice as common during nighttime hours. A driving curfew can significantly help reduce this risk.

Houston Car Accident Attorney

Whether your teen has been involved in an accident or you were hit by a distracted teen driver, I may be able to help. As a Houston car accident attorney, I work with all types of victims and all kinds of car accidents. Contact me today for a free consultation and to discuss your legal options.