Over the last 15 years the rate of teen traffic fatalities had dropped by about 50% in the US. This information is from a report released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in a report this week. The decrease is even more dramatic in the most recent data, with a decrease of 38% (population based, 36% in actual numbers) in traffic deaths in accidents involving 16-17 year old drivers from 2007 to 2008. From 2004-2008 11,019 people died in 9,494 fatal crashes involving 9,644 drivers ages 16-17. There are some other statistics that caught my eye in this report:
- 50% of these accidents were one vehicle accidents, 42% two vehicle, and 8% three or more vehicles.
- 65% of the 16-17 year old drivers in fatal accidents were male.
- 36% of the drivers were speeding.
- 79% of the drivers where a blood alcohol level was known had a level of zero (conversely 21% had a blood alcohol that was not zero, and the range in these cases ranged from 0.1 g/dl to 0.55 g/dl with an average of 0.12 g/dl.
- 6.7% of the deaths were of pedestrians or bicycle riders.
The editorial comment suggests that this steady decrease is likely in large part due to graduated drivers license programs effective in 49 states and in Washington DC (only South Dakota does not). Another factor in the huge decrease of 23% in the one year 2007-2008 may have been related to the poor economy in that year, attributing to fewer miles driven by young drivers. I’d suggest that maybe MADD and the increasing designated driver movement may have played a role, as well as the increased safety of modern automobiles, air bags, etc. It will be interesting to see if this trend persists with the increased rate of texting and telephone use by young drivers. So what can you as a parent do to keep your teen driver alive?
- Have zero tolerance for drinking, texting, or hands on phone use while driving.
- Insist on seat belt use.
- Have your teen drive a lot under all types of traffic and weather conditions while they have their learners permit (this is personal belief, no data here)
- Insist teens obey the graduated drivers license laws in your state. They are working!
Let’s hope that this progress continues, and traffic deaths of our teens continues to decrease for the next decade too.