Why are young drivers involved in so many accidents?

kuhnem

Inexperience and overconfidence.

Tracker

Inexperience, multiple distractions, doing foolish things to impress friends.

rottendog93

Lack of experience
Inability to recognize hazards
Lack of attention
Over estimating abilities
Bullet proof attitude
And more!

castroowns

they are inexperienced

Toolride

I've always had the saying that a lot of people I know hold up to be true... "everyone will be in an accident, be it directly or indirectly involved in a car accident before the age of 18."

My opinion into why younger drivers are involved in so many accidents is do mainly to immaturity. Many teenagers view themselves as indestructible, untouchable, and have the opinion of "that will never happen to me." And when something happens, they are quick to blame other things versus themselves.

Another thing is distractions. Cellular phones, the radio, passengers, and other things they are doing in the car. These things taking their attention from driving and whats going on the road.

The final thing... that adds into the factor is speeding. Teens are always in a rush to get here of there. When you add all these things together... it equals danger.

Been there before

Lack of experience.
Lack of understanding the dangers.
Youthful confidence of "it can't happen to me".
Drive either high-speed cars or broken down unsafe ones.
Risktaking behaviour being normal from about 14 to 21 years (actually experimentally blamed on the stage of brain development under the influence of hormones).
Tend to drive with drink or drugs more than older drivers.

D.M.

Their brains are still warm mush and won't be fully developed for a few years yet.

Darling

they are easily distracted by friends and other things so they dont focus enough on the road.... young people are also very naive so they dont realize that speeding a lot can really endanger others.

Ed P

They take driving for granted dont care about safety just getting a licence Girls are safer

Emilie

I am 17 and understand how dangerous driving can be and I stay off my phone and I don't text while driving. I think adults should not drive while talking on the phone because apparently they are not capable of driving while talking either. At driving school they really scared me by showing horrible car crashes with people cut in half and stuff like that. I drive with only one person in the car. Not my mom's rule I just decided to stick with it. Plus, I don't want lots of people in my car. I believe boys should have to wait to drive at a later age, most of the accidents that we have had at school were the boys fault.

Sam M

Because they only just learnt to drive? Doesn't take a brain cell to work that one out.

Jeff R

careless driving and hearing to music

sliterwilka

Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet

Overview

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for 36% of all deaths in this age group (CDC 2006). However, research suggests that the most strict and comprehensive graduated drivers licensing programs are associated with reductions of 38% and 40% in fatal and injury crashes, respectively, of 16-year-old drivers (Baker et al. 2007).

WISQARS
Allows you to form reports on injury mortality and nonfatal injury for a wide range of age groups

Injury Maps
Allows you to create maps of U.S. injury mortality rates

Occurrence and Consequences

In the U.S. during 2004, 4,767 teens ages 16 to 19 died of injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes. During 2005, nearly 400,000 motor vehicle occupants in this age group sustained nonfatal injuries severe enough to require treatment in an emergency department (CDC 2006).

The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash (IIHS 2006).

In 2005, teenagers accounted for 10 percent of the U.S. population and 12 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths (IIHS 2006).

The presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers; the risk increases with the number of teen passengers (Chen 2000).
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Cost

Persons aged 15 to 24, who represent only 14% of the U.S. population, account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females (Finkelstein et al. 2006).

Groups at Risk

In 2004, the motor vehicle death rate for male drivers and passengers age 16 to 19 was more than one and a half times that of their female counterparts (19.4 per 100,000 compared with 11.1 per 100,000) (CDC 2006).

Crash risk is particularly high during the first year that teenagers are eligible to drive (IIHS 2006).

Risk Factors

Teens are more likely than older drivers to underestimate hazardous situations or dangerous situations or not be able to recognize hazardous situations (Jonah 1987).

Teens are more likely than older drivers to speed and allow shorter headways (the distance from the front of one vehicle to the front of the next). The presence of male teenage passengers increases the likelihood of these risky driving behaviors among teen male drivers. (Simons-Morton 2005).
Among male drivers between 15 and 20 years of age who were involved in fatal crashes in 2005, 38% were speeding at the time of the crash and 24% had been drinking (NHTSA 2006a, NHTSA 2006b).

Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use. In 2005, 10% of high school students reported they rarely or never wear seat belts when riding with someone else (CDC 2006b).

Male high school students (12.5%) were more likely than female students (7.8%) to rarely or never wear seat belts (CDC 2006b).

African-American students (13.4%) and Hispanic students (10.6%) were more likely than white students (9.4%) to rarely or never wear seat belts (CDC 2006b).
At all levels of blood alcohol concentration (BAC), the risk of involvement in a motor vehicle crash is greater for teens than for older drivers (IIHS 2006).

o In 2005, 23% of drivers ages 15 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had a BAC of 0.08 g/dl or higher (NHTSA 2006b).

o In a national survey conducted in 2005, nearly 30% of teens reported that within the previous month, they had ridden with a driver who had been drinking alcohol. One in ten reported having driven after drinking alcohol within the same one-month period (CDC 2006b).

o In 2005, among teen drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes after drinking and driving, 74% were unrestrained (NHTSA 2006b).

In 2005, half of teen deaths from motor vehicle crashes occurred between 3 p.m. and midnight and 54% occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday (IIHS 2006).
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Resource

The Guide to Community Preventive Services*
Offers recommendations about motor vehicle injury prevention issued by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services.

References

Baker SP, Chen L, Li G. Nationwide review of graduated driver licensing. Washington (DC): AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety; 2007.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. (2006). National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (producer). Available from: URL: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars. [Cited 2006 Dec 1].

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillanceâ€”United States, 2005 [Online]. (2006b). National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (producer). Available from: URL: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/yrbss/CategoryQuestions.asp?cat=1&desc=Unintentional Injuries and Violence.* [Cited 2006 Nov 28].

Chen L, Baker SP, Braver ER, Li G. Carrying passengers as a risk factor for crashes fatal to 16- and 17-year old drivers. JAMA 2000;283(12):1578â€“82.

Finkelstein EA, Corso PS, Miller TR, Associates. Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press; 2006.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Fatality facts: teenagers 2005. Arlington (VA): The Institute; 2006 [cited 2006 Dec 1]. Available from: URL:
www.iihs.org/research/fatality_facts/t...

Jonah BA, Dawson NE. Youth and risk: age differences in risky driving, risk perception, and risk utility. Alcohol, Drugs and Driving 1987;3:13â€“29.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Dept. of Transportation (US). Traffic safety facts 2005: speeding. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2006a [cited 2006 Nov 28]. Available from: URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSF2005/SpeedingTSF05.pdf.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Dept. of Transportation (US). Traffic safety facts 2005: young drivers. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2006b [cited 2006 Nov 28]. Available from: URL: www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TS...

Simons-Morton B, Lerner N, Singer J. The observed effects of teenage passengers on the risky driving behavior of teenage drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention 2005;37:973-82.

BettyBoop

they have not honed their driving skills yet. Immaturity, attention deficit, and probably too many electronics, ie. mp3 players, cd player, cell phone.

~David~

carless-ness

â™¥FreeThinkerâ™¥

They have the ATTENTION SPAN OF A GNAT. THEY TALK, TEXT AND PLAY WITH THE RADIO.

a m

well probably speed and drink but i havent yet passed my test and im already dreading it...we are only taught specific manouvres and dont really know how to drive....we are taught with markings on the instructors car which we wont have when we pass we are only programmed to pass we aretn taught how to drive!

Chuck P

Because many of them have learned from their parents, the blind leading the blind, there are so many bad drivers in this world it's scary. They should be required to go through a certified school that teaches race drivers, they would then be prepared for the road and they would know how to handle a vehicle and know it's limitations. Most of all they would learn to respect the power and not treat it as a toy, and soon realize they could kill some one if they do not learn to operate the vehicle properly.

UCANTCME

Immaturity and lack of driving experience are the two main factors leading to the high crash rate among teens....

Dark H

Theyre reckless and think they are free now that they have lisence.

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