In a recent study, it has been revealed that teenagers crashing while driving are affected by the timing of their school and the amount of sleep they get.

This finding was concluded after Dr. Robert Verona, who examined DMV records of the teens. During the study, it was found that Chesapeake teens started for school at 8:40 in the morning and Virginia Beach teens started at 7:20 a. m. Chesapeake teens, it was observed, suffered lesser accidents as compared to their Virginia Beach counterparts.

Dr. Robert Vorona is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk and this study was presented in San Antonio, at the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Explaining the study, Dr. Verona said that more crashes were found in teen drivers aged 16 to 18 Virginia Beach. It was then concluded that accident rate in Virginia Beach teens was 1.4 times more than in Chesapeake drivers.

The reason for the varied crash rates as cited by Verona is that the students starting late for schools are more active as they get more time to sleep. Dr. Verona said that teenagers need a sleep of at least 9 hours. Those who do not sleep enough face problems in staying alert and this may be the reason for the crashes.