BY Coach Watkins

Statistics on youthful drivers In 2006, 5, to 19-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes. Approximately two-thirds of teen passenger deaths (ages 13 to 19) occur when other teenagers are driving. Child passengers (under age 16 ) driven by teenagers (ages 16 to 19) have three times the risk of injury in a crash than children driven by adults. Overall, 9 percent of child fatalities occur with a driver under age 19. Teen driver crashes are the leading cause of death for our nation’s youth. The overwhelming majority of these crashes are caused by inexperience or distractions, not "thrill-seeking" or deliberate risk-taking.

Common distractions Cell phone Eating Socializing Loud music Putting on make-up TEXT Fidgeting with controls

Putting Make-up on You may think you're saving time by multitasking as you're putting on makeup or brushing your hair while you drive. But what you're really doing is setting yourself up for a costly lesson in driving while distracted.

Socailizing Turns out, young drivers with young passengers tend to get in more accidents than those driving alone. Makes sense, since there's nothing like a friend to tease you or say something compelling to get you to take your eyes off the road.

Loud music Sure, everyone's guilty of blasting on their tunes in the car to accompany their singing and smoking-hot chair- dancing moves. Unfortunately, car karaoke can put you in danger since you won't be able to hear the horns of other motorists or emergency vehicle sirens above your falsetto high note.

Cell phones 80 percent of teen drivers own a cell phone. Nine out of 10 have witnessed teen drivers talking on a cell phone; seven out of 10 sometimes see emotionally upset teens drive while talking on a cell phone. Bluetooth

Eating Sometimes you only have so much time to enjoy a meal so it's yet another visit to the drive-thru for you.

TEXT Texting is probably one of the best ways to communicate: instant gratification without disturbing the receiving party and you don't have to talk to them if you don't want to. But typing while you're driving? Not a good idea — you only have two hands, and they're better off on the steering wheel

Fidgeting with controls It's only natural to want to fine-tune your situation while you're on the road, but spend too much time messing with the controls and you could be messing with danger.

How do you prevent common disrtaction? Tell your friends to“ Shut up” If you just have to take the call, tell the person on the other end that you're on the road and will call them back later. Instead of juggling your soda with your fries with your burger, wait until you're parked before you chow down. Enjoy your in-car tunes at a reasonable level since you need to hear as well as see when you're on the road. Set your clock an extra 30 minutes to put make-up on.