TEEN DRIVING: FACTS AND
STATISTICS
FATALITIES
·
Motor vehicle crashes are
the No. 1 cause of death among teens in the U.S.
·
The fatality rate for
drivers age 16 to 19 is four times that of drivers age 25 to 69 years
·
The crash fatality rate
(crash fatalities/100,000 population) is highest for 16- to 17-year-olds within
the first six months after getting their license — and remains high through age
24
·
The top three predictors
for fatality are non-use of seat belts, teen drivers and roads with speed
limits of 45 mph or higher
·
Approximately two-thirds of
teen passenger deaths (ages 13 to 19) occur when other teenagers are driving
CRASHES
·
In their first year on the
road, teens are almost 10 times more likely to be in a crash
·
20 percent of 11th graders
report being in a crash as a driver in the past year
·
25 percent of 9th graders
report being in a crash as a passenger in their lifetimes
·
Crash risk increases
incrementally with each mile per hour over the speed limit
·
Current data on crashes
involving 16-year-old drivers shows that having multiple teenage passengers in
the vehicle is twice as likely to cause a fatal crash as alcohol-impaired
driving
·
Crashes are more common
among young drivers than any other age group. In the United States, 1 in 4
crash fatalities involve someone 16 to 24 years old, nearly twice as high as
other age groups
PARENTAL INFLUENCE
·
66 percent of teens say
they care about their parents’ opinion on cell phone use while driving
·
56 percent of teens rely on
their parents to learn how to drive
DISTRACTION
·
90 percent of teens see
passenger behavior that distracts the driver
SPEEDING
·
Nearly half of teens report
seeing passengers encouraging drivers to speed at least sometimes
·
Half of teen drivers report
driving 10 miles per hour over the speed limit at least sometimes
CELL PHONE USE
·
Nine out of 10 teens
reported it was common to see teens driving while talking on a cell phone
SEAT BELT USE
·
Teens have the lowest seat
belt use rates of any age group, leading to deadly consequences
·
Only 65 percent of teens
consistently wear their seat belts as both a driver and passenger
·
Six out of 10 drivers ages
16 to 20 who were killed in crashes were unrestrained
·
Almost two out of three
teens killed as occupants of motor vehicles are unrestrained
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
·
Teens are actually less
likely than adults to get behind the wheel after drinking, but when they do,
their risk of crashing is far greater
·
53 percent of teens saw
substance use behind the wheel at least sometimes
