Whether you are a teen preparing to head back to school or you are a parent concerned about your child’s safety on the road, you need to review some of the risk factors young drivers face while behind the wheel (or riding with friends). Aside from understanding some of the reasons why many teens become involved in collisions, going over statistics on accidents involving teen drivers helps shed light on the prevalence of these crashes.
Sadly, accidents involving teens caused many victims to suffer serious injuries that alter the course of their lives. Sometimes, these accidents claim young lives as well.
Teens and traffic accident risks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines a number of risk factors related to teens and traffic collisions. For example, teens who recently received their driver’s license are more likely to become involved in an accident and the odds of a crash increase when teen drivers have other teens present in the vehicle without adult supervision. Distractions (such as using a phone behind the wheel), inexperience, driving at night and speeding also cause many teen drivers to crash.
Moreover, alcohol contributes to many accidents involving teens. In fact, even relatively small amounts of alcohol can cause a teen driver to crash.
Statistics on traffic accidents involving teens
The CDC reports that roughly 258,000 teens needed emergency treatment as a result of injuries sustained in traffic collisions over the course of 2019. Furthermore, these accidents claimed the lives of nearly 2,400 teens. Even if you focus on road safety as a teen or parent, an accident could occur because of another driver’s negligence, in which case you need to hold them answerable.