Q&A: Teenagers — general

January 2012

1 How serious is the teenage motor vehicle crash problem?

In 2009, 3,466 teenagers (ages 13-19) died in the United States from crash injuries. Such injuries are by far the leading public health problem among people 13-19 years old. In 2007, the latest year for which data are available, 35 percent of all deaths among 16-19 year-olds from all causes were related to motor vehicles.1 The crash risk among teenage drivers is particularly high during the first months of licensure.2,3

2 How do teenage crash rates compare with rates among drivers of other ages?

Teenage drivers have high rates of both fatal and nonfatal crashes compared with adult drivers. Teenagers drive less than all but the oldest people, but their numbers of crashes and crash deaths are disproportionately high. Based on crashes of all severities, the crash rate per mile driven for 16-19 year-olds is 4 times the risk for drivers 20 and older. Risk is highest at age 16. The crash rate per mile driven is nearly twice as high for 16 year-olds as it is for 18-19 year-olds.4 The rate of deaths per 100,000 people in 2009 peaked at age 19 for male drivers (16 per 100,000) and at age 18 for male passengers (8 per 100,000). Death rates peaked at age 18 for female drivers (7 per 100,000) and at age 18 for female passengers (7 per 100,000).

Many teenagers die as passengers in motor vehicle crashes. Sixty percent of teenage passenger deaths in 2009 occurred in vehicles driven by another teenager. Among deaths of passengers of all ages, 18 percent occurred when a teenager was driving.

A 2007 Highway Loss Data Institute study reported that overall collision (vehicle damage) losses for vehicles insured for teenagers to drive are more than double those for vehicles insured for use by adults only.5

3 How do crashes involving teenagers differ from those of other drivers?

Analyses of fatal crash data indicate that teenage drivers are more likely to be at fault in their crashes. Teenagers' crashes are more likely to involve speeding than those of older drivers, and teenagers are more likely than drivers of other ages to be in single-vehicle fatal crashes. Plus teenagers do more of their driving in small and older cars6 and at night,4 compared with adults. In 2009, 17 percent of teenagers' fatalities occurred between 9 pm and midnight, and 26 percent occurred between midnight and 6 am. Fifty-five percent of teenagers' fatalities occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

See Beginning Teenage Drivers brochure

4 Why is teenage crash involvement so high?

An Institute review of recent literature confirmed that driver age and experience both have strong effects on driver crash risk.7 Crash rates for young drivers are high largely because of their immaturity combined with driving inexperience. The immaturity is apparent in young drivers' risky driving practices such as speeding. At the same time, teenagers' lack of experience behind the wheel makes it difficult for them to recognize and respond to hazards. They get in trouble trying to handle unusual driving situations, and these situations turn disastrous more often than when older people drive.

5 How are teenagers' crash rates changing over time?

The number of teenagers (ages 13-19) who died in motor vehicle crashes was 8,748 in 1975 and 3,466 in 2009, a decline of 60 percent. Most of the decline occurred between 1975 and 1992, when teenage crash deaths were 5,215. Between 1996, when the first graduated driver licensing program was implemented, and 2009, teenage crash deaths declined by 40 percent (from 5,819 to 3,466). Deaths dropped from 4,070 in 2008 to 3,466 in 2009, a decline of 17 percent.

Between 1975 and 2009 the rate of crash deaths per 100,000 people declined by 60 percent for teenagers (from 29 to 12 per 100,000). In contrast, the death rate declined by 75 percent for people 12 and younger (from 8 to 2 per 100,000), 42 percent for people ages 20-69 (from 22 to 13 per 100,000), and 42 percent for people 70 and older (from 26 to 14 per 100,000). Between 1996 and 2009 the per capita crash death rate for teenagers declined by 47 percent (from 22 to 12 per 100,000).

Teenage driver crash involvements per population also have declined since 1996, and the largest declines occurred for 16 year-olds. Between 1996 and 2009 fatal crashes per population fell 68 percent for 16 year-olds, 53 percent for 17 year-olds, and 43 percent for 18 year-olds. During the same period, police-reported crashes fell 57 percent for 16 year-olds, 47 percent for 17 year-olds, and 38 percent for 18 year-olds.

6 What requirements do states have for teenagers learning to drive?

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have graduated licensing systems, although the systems vary in strength. A young driver is first required to complete a supervised learner's period before obtaining an intermediate license that limits driving in high-risk situations. Only then can drivers get licenses with full privileges.

As recently as 1995, there were far fewer restrictions on teen licensing. At that time, only 29 states and the District of Columbia required a learner's permit, and only 11 required the permit to be held for a minimum period ranging from 14 to 90 days.8

See licensing systems for young drivers for more details

7 Is alcohol an important factor in teenagers' crashes?

Yes. Young drivers are less likely than adults to drive after drinking alcohol, but their crash risk is substantially higher when they do. This is especially true at low and moderate blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) and is thought to result from teenagers' relative inexperience with drinking, with driving, and with combining the two.9 At the same BAC, young drivers are far more likely than older drivers to get into a fatal or nonfatal crash.10

Among teenage passenger vehicle drivers (16-19 years old) who were fatally injured in 2009, 30 percent of males and 18 percent of females had high BACs (0.08 percent or higher), even though every state has a legal minimum alcohol purchasing age of 21 and a zero BAC threshold for teenage drivers. The percentage with high BACs was much lower among 16-17-year-old drivers (14 percent) than among 18-19-year-old drivers (32 percent).

See Teenagers: underage drinking Q&A

8 What can be done to reduce teenagers' high crash rates?

The most effective policies address crash risk factors or limit teenagers' driving exposure — for example, night driving and passenger restrictions for beginning drivers and higher ages for initial licensure.11 General curfews that apply to all late-night activities for 13-17 year-olds also reduce crashes and crash injuries.12 Graduated licensing, designed to provide beginning drivers with an opportunity to gain experience behind the wheel under conditions that minimize risk, was introduced in New Zealand in 1987. Beginning with Florida in 1996, almost all US states have introduced elements of graduated licensing. Evaluations of graduated licensing systems in US states and Canadian provinces have shown they reduce crashes substantially.13 A pair of national studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute found that strong restrictions on nighttime driving and teenage passengers, as well as delayed licensing age, reduce fatal crashes and insurance losses.14,15

See Teenagers: graduated driver licensing Q&A

9 Do driver education programs make teenagers safer?

Formal evaluations16,17 of US high school driver education programs indicate little or no effect in reducing crashes per licensed driver, and offering driver education in schools can have an unintended negative effect on crash involvement by encouraging early licensure among 16-17 year-olds.18 The net result is more crashes per capita among teenagers. Connecticut eliminated high school driver education and lowered teenage crash rates by reducing licensure.19 Other school-based programs, such as those intended to reduce alcohol-impaired driving, have not been shown to be effective, at least in the short term.20

References

¹National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 2006. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars.

²Mayhew, D.R.; Simpson, H.M.; and Pak, A. 2003. Changes in collision rates among novice drivers during the first months of driving. Accident Analysis and Prevention 35:683-91.

³McCartt, A.T.; Shabanova, V.I. and Leaf, W.A. 2003. Driving experiences, crashes, and teenage beginning drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention 35:311-20.

⁴Federal Highway Administration. 2001. National Household Travel Survey, 2001. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation.

⁵Highway Loss Data Institute. 2007. Collision losses by rated driver age and gender. Insurance special report A-73. Arlington, VA.

⁶Cammisa, M.X.; Williams, A.F.; and Leaf, W.A. 1999. Vehicles driven by teenagers in four states. Journal of Safety Research 30:25-30.

⁷McCartt, A.T.; Mayhew, D.R.; Braitman, K.A.; Ferguson, S.A.; and Simpson, H.M. 2009. Effects of age and experience on young driver crashes: review of recent literature. Traffic Injury Prevention 10:209-19.

⁸Williams, A.F.; Weinberg, K.; Fields, M.; and Ferguson, S.A. 1996. Current requirements for getting a drivers license in the United States. Journal of Safety Research 27:93-101.

⁹Mayhew, D.R.; Donelson, A.C.; Beirness, D.J.; and Simpson, H.M. 1986. Youth, alcohol, and relative risk of crash involvement. Accident Analysis and Prevention 18:273-87.

¹⁰Peck, R.C.; Gebers, M.A.; Voas, R.B.; and Romano, E. 2008. The relationship between blood alcohol concentration (BAC), age, and crash risk. Journal of Safety Research 39:311-19.

¹¹Williams, A.F. and Ferguson, S.A. 2002. Rationale for graduated licensing and the risks it should address. Injury Prevention 8(suppl. II):ii9-ii16.

¹²Preusser, D.F.; Williams, A.F.; Lund, A.K.; and Zador, P.L. 1990. City curfew ordinances and teenage motor vehicle injury. Accident Analysis and Prevention 22:391-97.

¹³Shope, J.T. 2007. Graduated driver licensing: review of evaluation results since 2002. Journal of Safety Research 38:165-75.

¹⁴McCartt, A.T.; Teoh, E.R.; Fields, M.; Braitman, K.A.; and Hellinga, L.A. 2010. Graduated licensing laws and fatal crashes of teenage drivers: a national study. Traffic Injury Prevention 11:240-48.

¹⁵Trempel, R.E. 2009. Graduated licensing laws and insurance collision claim frequencies of teenage drivers. Highway Loss Data Institute. Arlington, VA.

¹⁶Mayhew, D.R.; Simpson, H.M.; Williams, A.F.; and Ferguson, S.A. 1998. Effectiveness and role of driver education and training in a graduated licensing system. Journal of Public Health Policy 19:51-67.

¹⁷Vernick, J.S.; Guohua, L.; Ogaitis, S.; Mackenzie, E.J.; Baker, S.P.; and Gielen, A.C. 1999. Effects of high school driver education on motor vehicle crashes, violations, and licensure. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 16:40-46.

¹⁸Christie, R. 2001. The effectiveness of driver training as a road safety measure: a review of the literature. Victoria, Australia: Royal Automobile Club of Victoria.

¹⁹Robertson, L.S. 1980. Crash involvement of teenaged drivers when driver education is eliminated from high school. American Journal of Public Health 70:599-603.

²⁰Williams, A.F. 1994. The contribution of education and public information to reducing alcohol-impaired driving. Alcohol, Drugs, and Driving 10:197-202.