Killer
Cars
Background Information
Teen drivers account for an overwhelming percentage of car accidents and deaths. More teens and younger drivers equals more accidents and deaths.
In this activity, students will investigate local and non-local teen accidents, injuries, and deaths. They will analyze conditions of the accidents to determine the relation to possible causes. They will then discuss and propose actions that could decrease such tragedies.
Killer Cars
Student Activities
Work in four teams: One team should do research a, one team b, and one team c. The fourth team should make comparisons d.
1. Research
a. Local:
1. Obtain an index of your town's (newspaper) articles for the past year.
Locate articles of teen accidents in your town. Record:
number of teens
age of driver
time of trip
alcohol use
purpose of trip
personal injuries
2. Interview a representative of your local police department. Compare police reports of teen accidents to newspaper reports. Are there similarities? Discrepancies?
b. Obtain an index of (newspaper) articles from another major city, such as Denver, for the past year.Locate newspapers for accidents in the other city: Record:
number of teens
age of driver
time of trip
alcohol use
purpose of trip
personal injuries
c. Obtain an index of (newspaper) articles from a rural area for the past year.Locate newspapers for accidents in rural locations. Record:
- number of teens
- age of driver
- time of trip
- alcohol use
- purpose of trip
- personal injuries
2. Focus Group:d. Compare records from the other locations to your town.
- Compare rural vs. urban accident rate and seriousness of injuries.
Mix representatives from the four groups.
Discuss alternatives to solving the teen accident problem.
Present in a panel discussion.
Killer Cars
Teacher Notes
As a result of this activity, students should be aware of the factors that seem to affect the number of teen car accidents. They should propose alternatives that would decrease the number of such tragedies. Alternatives could include: fewer teens per car, raising the driving age, limiting teen driving to necessary trips, eliminate various distractions, etc.
Encourage thinking about and discussing alternatives.
Interdisciplinary Approach: Environmental Studies and Art.
Art/Science Interdisciplinary Activity: Have a team create a documentary, bumper stickers, slogans, and/or posters.