MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) -This week is National Teen Driver Safety Week, a time to raise awareness and seek solutions to preventable teen deaths and injuries on the road.

Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death for teens 15 to 18 years old. In 2022, 811 teen drivers died in crashes.

Experts say the majority of new teen drivers emerge from the learning period with significant skill deficits, leading to a much higher risk of crashing compared with more experienced drivers. The most common types of crashes involve left turns, rear-end events, and running off the road.

The overwhelming majority (75%) of serious teen driver crashes are due to "critical errors," the three most common of which are lack of scanning to detect and respond to hazards, going too fast for road conditions, and being distracted by something inside or outside of the vehicle.

Distraction is a key factor in 58 percent of crashes involving drivers ages 16 to 19.

The Alabama Department of Public Health just secured a grant to launch a distracted driving campaign. This is a good starting point for the conversations parents need to have with teenage drivers and for the example parents should set behind the wheel.

Alabama is among the worst states in the nation for teen driver fatalities.