Teens Driving Teens

  If you have a teen who is close to driving age, you are probably a little concerned.  It is terrifuing to think about putting your son or daughter into a powerful and potentially dangerous machine. You want to do everything possible to insure their safety as they are first driving without you in the car.

 AAA has a great website with lots of information  about teens and driving. What  follows are statistics and facts about young drivers with young passengers.  It may give you some ammunition to set boundaries and rules as your son or daughter first begins take the car.

 WASHINGTON (October 11, 2012) – Risky behaviors among 16- and 17-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes increased when teen passengers were present according to a study presented today by AAA and conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. With motor vehicle crashes ranking as the leading cause of death for teens, AAA is calling for greater parental involvement and stronger graduated driver’s licensing programs to promote road safety.
The new research, released as part of Teen Driver Safety Week (Oct. 14-20), shows that the prevalence of risky behaviors generally grew for 16- and 17-year-old drivers as the number of teen passengers increased.  Among 16- and 17-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes:

• The prevalence of speeding increased from 30 percent to 44 percent and 48 percent with zero, two and three or more teen passengers, respectively.
• The prevalence of late-night driving (11 p.m. to 5 a.m.) increased from 17 percent to 22 percent and 28 percent with zero, two and three or more teen passengers, respectively.
• The prevalence of alcohol use increased from 13 percent to 17 percent and 18 percent with zero, two and three or more teen passengers, respectively.

Additional Resources

• Research Results: Characteristics of Fatal Crashes Involving 16- and 17-Year-Old Drivers with Teenage Passengers
• VIDEO: New Research from AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
• VIDEO: Steps to Take to Reduce Teen Passenger Fatalities
• VIDEO: What Parents Can Do to Keep Their Teen Driver Safe

“Mixing young drivers with teen passengers can have dangerous consequences,” said AAA President & CEO Robert Darbelnet. “AAA urges parents to set and consistently enforce family rules that limit newly licensed teens from driving with young passengers.”
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety analyzed data on fatal crashes that occurred in the United States from 2005 through 2010. The report documents the prevalence of passengers ages 13-19 in fatal crashes involving drivers age 16 and 17, and examines the characteristics of those crashes according to age, sex and number of teen passengers present.  Researchers found that 9,578 drivers age 16 and 17 were involved in fatal crashes, and that 3,994 of these included at least one teen passenger.
“Teen crashes remain a huge problem nationwide,” said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger. “Our past research clearly shows how young passengers substantially increase a novice driver’s risk of being in a fatal crash, and these new findings underscore the need to refocus our efforts, to address the problem, from state legislatures to parents.”
AAA recommends that all states adopt and enforce a comprehensive three-stage (learner’s permit, intermediate/probationary license, full/unrestricted license) graduated license system for novice drivers. These programs should limit driving at night and driving with young passengers, among other provisions designed to help novice drivers gain the skills and experience associated with responsible driving behavior.
“Graduated driver licensing programs have been shown to greatly reduce crashes, injuries and deaths for everyone on the road when they limit new teen drivers to no more than one passenger,” continued Darbelnet. “Steps parents can take, such as setting and enforcing a parent-teen driving agreement, can build on state laws to improve safety by gradually easing teens into driving.”
This study builds on a AAA Foundation report released in May that shows how risk of death in a traffic crash for 16- and 17-year-old drivers increases by 44 percent when carrying one passenger younger than 21, doubles with two and quadruples with three or more younger passengers, compared with driving alone. A previous study by the AAA Foundation found that potentially distracting loud conversation and horseplay were substantially more common with multiple teenage passengers in the vehicle than with siblings or adult passengers.
Teen drivers face a number of safety challenges including:

• Teenage drivers are involved in more crashes per mile than drivers of any other age group.
• Drivers aged 16 to 17 are involved in about seven times as many crashes per mile driven compared to drivers in their forties, fifties or sixties.
• Teenage drivers are overrepresented in crashes that result in the death of other people, such as their passengers, pedestrians or occupants of other vehicles.

AAA has a wide range of tools available at TeenDriving.AAA.com to help parents simplify the learning-to-drive process including parent-teen driving agreements, online webinars, licensing information and free online information developed from a National Institutes of Health program.
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