HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
Troopers wanted to remind drivers, especially teens, to be safe as they hit the road this 4th of July holiday.
Public safety officials said teen drivers are at a higher risk to get in an accident.
The 4th of July has been declared as one of the deadliest driving holidays according to new data analysis by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. The IIHS found that more than 800 people were killed on the 4th of July from 2006 to 2010. In Alabama, 71 people died during the month of July.
Troopers said teen drivers are very distracted when they're out on the highways. Officials said most text on their phones and play with the radio. They also said some teens are new to driving and are not used to all the commotion going on around them.
Teen drivers account for the biggest age group that don't wear seat belts. Troopers said parents need to play a bigger role when it comes to their teens and driving.
"Teenagers represent ten percent of the population, but they account for 14 percent for all fatal crashes in the united states, so they're overly represented in that portion in crashes and often times it's because of lack of experience," said Trooper Curtis Summerville, with the Alabama Department of Public Safety.
Public safety officials have also kicked off their Operation Ten Mile Project, which places a trooper every ten miles along the interstate.
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