Teen Drivers Kill Others More Than Teens

Indeed, teen drivers are involved in many fatal crashes in which they themselves are killed.  But what many people don’t know is that teen drivers kill even more other motorists.

“Teen crash rates are higher than any other age group, and this data confirms that the impact of their crashes extend well beyond the teen who is behind the wheel,” said Peter Kissinger, President and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.  “Since teens drive more during the summer than any other season, this insight is a timely reminder to everyone—drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists— to be mindful when sharing the roads with young drivers.”

The study analyzed data of police-reported crashes of drivers aged 15-19, from 1994-2013 and found that:

• While the overall number of teen crashes are down,  the majority of people killed (66%) and injured (67%) in crashes involving a teen driver are people other than the teen themselves

• Nearly 50 percent of those injured were in another vehicle; 17 percent were in the teen driver’s car; and 2 percent were non-motorists (i.e., pedestrian, bicyclist)


• Nearly 30 percent of those killed were in another car, 27 percent were the teen’s passenger and ten percent were non-motorists (i.e., pedestrians, bicyclist)

This research is a keen reminder that teen driving safety really is every driver’s problem, and that drivers can help shape teen drivers’ behaviors.  And parents of teen drivers can play a huge role- that who teens learn to drive from, even before they get behind the wheel the very first time.  Driving schools: are you doing all you can to help parents understand that they are their teen’s biggest role model, when it comes to learning driving habits?

More info at:

https://www.aaafoundation.org/teen-driver-crashes-1994-2013-0

http://newsroom.aaa.com/2015/05/teen-drivers-put-everyone-risk/