Sharing the road with teen drivers: Prevent accidents during summer's 100 Deadliest Days

Between 2019 and 2023, accidents involving teen drivers claimed the lives of more than 13,000 individuals. Of those accidents, 30% took place during the same period: the days between Memorial Day and Labor Day, according to AAA. This timeframe is known as the 100 Deadliest Days.

“During the summer, it’s like someone just opened the floodgates,” Erin Gilchrist, VP of fleet evangelism at fleet management platform IntelliShift, told FleetOwner. “There are more inexperienced drivers, more unpredictable behavior, and more distractions on the road.”

With floodgates open and road risks heightened, how can professional drivers ensure their safety and the safety of others when sharing the road with the most inexperienced teen drivers during the summer months?

Sharing the road vs. surviving the road

Due to an increase in inexperienced drivers on the road, every driver is at a higher risk.

Teen drivers are at a higher risk of fatality during these months, and “their actions put everyone else at risk as well, especially professional drivers who are navigating larger vehicles with tighter timelines,” Gilchrist explained.

Professional drivers are trained to identify patterns in other motorists’ behaviors, Gilchrist said. This helps them predict the driver’s next move. An example of this, as offered by Lytx, is when a driver changes from the left lane to the right lane. Will they turn soon, or are they passing a slower driver?

However, identifying these patterns doesn’t work as well with inexperienced teen drivers because inexperienced drivers exhibit fewer habits and more volatility, Gilchrist said. Therefore, summer road traffic doesn’t only mean a higher volume of vehicles on the road but also a more unpredictable behavior. This takes professional drivers from simply sharing the road to surviving the road.

“In reality, during the 100 Deadliest Days, drivers are in survival mode,” Gilchrist said. “They’re literally watching every erratic lane change, every unexpected stop, every phone in someone’s hand.”

Further, professional drivers must learn not only to survive the dangers of the road but also “that constant state of alertness takes a toll, both mentally and operationally,” Gilchrist explained. She suggests employing the proper support and visibility tools to decrease that additional stress.

Consequences of sharing the road with teen drivers

Fleet leaders and drivers already know that accidents are costly. Even one accident can cripple a fleet. Gilchrist cites expenses such as vehicle damage, skyrocketing insurance costs, lost productivity, and sometimes legal repercussions.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the average cost of a single accident involving a fatality is $3.6 million. The cost of an accident involving injuries is about $200,000. And even truck crashes that involve no deaths or injuries can cost fleets nearly $100,000 on average.

But money isn’t the only thing at stake during these months. Gilchrist has seen an increase in driver downtime and an increase in stress levels from the driver’s seat to the back office during the summer. And that doesn’t take into account the emotional toll on drivers directly involved in an accident, Gilchrist said.

Eliminate the risk with coaching, safety tech

While the 100 Deadliest Days sounds daunting, there are steps fleets can take to mitigate the risk and ensure safety on the road.

“It starts with safety and proactive coaching,” Gilchrist said. “Fleets can’t control who else is on the road, but they can control how their drivers respond.”

Fleet leaders should continually coach their drivers on safety, starting with defensive driving techniques. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance lists these as:

Wearing a seat belt
Being aware of driving conditions
Driving the speed limit
Keeping eyes on the road
Taking breaks when necessary to combat fatigue
Watching for hazards and anticipating possible risks
Carefully backing (using the GOAL—get out and look—system when necessary)
Maintaining lane position
Being conscious of blind spots
Approaching curves carefully
Route planning
Discontinuing cell phone use
Avoiding distractions
Awareness of medications that might cause a change in behavior while behind the wheel

While the driver’s response is a fleet’s first line of defense, safety technology can also aid drivers in improving their safety behind the wheel, starting with their behaviors.

“This can include dashcams with AI that recognize signs of distraction or fatigue, like lane drifting or delayed braking,” Gilchrist said. “We’re also seeing powerful results from predictive analytics: tools that alert managers to trends before they become problems, like repeated speeding in high-risk zones.”

Fleet safety technology can also alert and help drivers identify other motorists’ risky behaviors through AI-powered cameras and real-time alerts.

“If a driver knows they’re approaching a high-risk area,” Gilchrist said, “they can adjust before it turns into something worse.”

See also: Combatting summer road rage

Creating a culture of safety

While in the depths of the 100 Deadliest Days, safety should be top of mind for every fleet leader and driver. Yet, ensuring a safe driver during these high-risk times takes a daily initiative and a strong safety culture.

“Fleets that succeed are the ones that treat safety like a daily commitment, not a quarterly initiative,” Gilchrist said. “It’s about equipping people, supporting them with the right tools, and never letting safety take the back seat—not in the summer, not ever.”