NHTSA Survey: Young Driver-Related Crashes Account for 1/5th of All Fatalities
Automobile accidents are the number one cause of death for young motorists between the ages of 15 and 20. Not only that, they also makeup 1/5th of all traffic accident fatalities in the country. This is in spite of the fact that these motorists account for just 9 percent of the population of the country. Those facts are included in a new report on young driver fatalities by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The report analyses young drivers (drivers between the age of 15 and 20) and drills down further into each individual state. In New Jersey, there were a total of 114 fatalities in accidents involving these young drivers. Out of these, the young driver accounted for 35 fatalities, while his passengers accounted for 36 fatalities. The number of passengers killed in these accidents was further divided by age group. Two of the passengers who died were below 15 years of age, 31 passengers were of the same age group as the driver (that is between 15 and 20 years of age) and three passengers were above the age of 20.
I noticed in New Jersey there seem to be a very high number of passenger fatalities in teen driver accidents that are between the age of 15 and 20. As a New Jersey auto accident lawyer, I don’t find that information all that surprising when you consider that teen motorists prefer to drive with people their own age. The risk of an accident also increases dramatically when a young driver has passengers his own age in the car.
While factors like alcohol use have declined in auto accidents involving adult drivers, these continue to be a factor in young driver-related accidents. In 2007, 11 percent of young drivers admitted that they drove drunk at least once during the 30 days before they were surveyed. Speeding was another prominent factor in these accidents. This was a especially high risk behavior in young male drivers between 15 and 20. Seatbelt use was anther contributing factor to young driver fatalities. Seatbelt use in this age group continues to be low. In 2007, failure to wear seatbelts contributed to 61 percent of fatalities in this age group.
