Close to 3,000 teenagers are killed each year in car crashes nationwide, making traffic collisions the leading cause of accidental death among teens ages 13 to 19, according data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Statistics show that male teen drivers are most likely than older age groups to be involved in fatal car collisions, while female teen drivers are most likely to drive distracted than any other group – placing them at the highest risk of a traffic accident.
Teen Drivers – Auto Accident Injury and Fatality Statistics
Teens do not crash most often because they take more risks, use drugs or alcohol more frequently, or text too often behind the wheel. Studies show they crash because they are inexperienced and they struggle with common driving skills such as gauging gaps to make safe turns or merge, keeping safe following distances, scanning the roads ahead of them, and learning to instinctively utilize peripheral vision.
- Car crashes are still the number one cause of accidental death in teens, causing more teen fatalities each year than suicides and homicides combined
- Memorial Day to Labor Day are the 100 deadliest days for teen drivers out on US roadways
- Just one teen passenger riding along with a teen driver can increase that driver’s crash risk by 48 percent – three or more teen passengers can increase that risk by as much as 307 percent
- In their first year of driving, one in five 16-year-old drivers has an accident; 16-year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age
- Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash
- Teens who text and drive are 50 percent more likely to crash than teens who drink and drive
- Texting-related accidents (distracted driving) are the leading cause of traffic fatalities for teenagers in the US
- Young people (ages 15-24) represent 14 percent of the U.S. population, but they account for 58 percent ($26 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries, according to the CDC
- 56 percent of teens admit to talking on the phone while driving. Talking on a cell phone can double the likelihood of an accident
- 56 percent of teen traffic accident fatalities occurred Friday, Saturday, or Sunday
- A 2007 national survey found that nearly three out of 10 teens said they had driven with a driver who had been drinking within the previous month
- Almost 65 percent of all teen passenger deaths occurred while another teen was driving
- At least 3,000 teens are killed each year in auto accidents in the US each year
- Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use – in 2011, only 54 percent of high school students reported they always wear seat belts when riding with someone else
- Each year, approximately 300,000 teenagers are treated at hospitals for non-fatal injuries from distracted driving (texting) accidents
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