Car Accident Rates Related to School Start Time According to One Study
Posted on | June 21, 2010 | No Comments
Research at Eastern Virginia Medical School found a direct correlation between teen car crashes and school start times. It has been common practice for high school students in the U.S. to start their school day the earliest, often leaving for school anywhere from 6:30 to 7:15 in the morning. Junior high school students start just after the high school students and the elementary students start the latest, normally beginning their school day at approximately 9:00. The research out of Eastern Virginia shows that this pattern could have negative consequences. The incident rate for automobile accidents increases for those high school students that drive to high schools that have earlier start times. The theory being discussed is the earlier the school start time, the more likely the student driver is to have an accident on the way to school. In the study done at Eastern Virginia Medical School, the teenage driver accident rate was 40 percent higher at one high school that started at 7:20 when compared to crash rates at a neighboring community where high school started more than an hour later at 8:40. This study has led some parents and community members across the nation to argue that high school should begin later in the morning. They feel that teenagers are more likely to be up later completing activity or studying and thus need more time for sleep. Some also believe the crash rate incident may be tied to the amount of daylight available in the morning. The later the start time, the more daylight there is. The more daylight there is, the more awake our biological processes are and the easier it is to see what else is out there on the road.
Author: Pamela Frost