A combination of inexperience, recklessness and distraction can lead to a lot of teen driving accidents in Florida. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there are more than 815,000 teens licensed to drive in our state. Here are some the most common teen traffic violations:
Driving too fast
Speeding is a common traffic violation among teens, and it is the No. 1 cause of teen car accidents. Even when they don’t cause a crash, teens get cited for speeding frequently. In 2019 alone, 58,802 teens received a speeding ticket in Florida.
Driving without insurance
It’s very common for teen drivers to forget to carry their proof of insurance with them in the car. When a teen gets pulled over, they can receive a ticket if they have no proof of car insurance. Simply forgetting to carry an insurance card will only result in a $10 fine, but not having insurance at all is a crime.
Careless driving
Careless driving is a broad term for many different unsafe driving behaviors and traffic violations. There were 18,388 careless driving tickets handed to teen drivers in 2019. A lot of careless driving is caused by distracted driving behaviors like texting. Teens may be cited for careless driving even if their actions didn’t cause an accident.
Teen traffic citation defense
Florida’s graduated license program can be a bit confusing for teen drivers. If you have a teenage driver in your home that was cited for a license violation or another issue, you may want to dispute the ticket. Maintaining a positive driving record can be important for a teen’s future.