Having passengers increases fatal crash risks for teen drivers

On Behalf of | Jan 23, 2021 | Wrongful Death

Letting your teenage driver take to the roads is often scary and anxiety-inducing. Like many parents, you may set boundaries when it comes to your child driving when other passengers are present. Some parents do not make these rules, though, and even when they do, their teenage drivers may not always follow them.

According to AAA Newsroom, teenage drivers who have teen passengers riding in their vehicles are far more likely to crash and injure or kill someone than those without teen passengers.

Statistics surrounding teen drivers with passengers

Research shows that when teen drivers have teen passengers present, it increases the risk of a fatal car crash by 51% for all parties involved. When a teen driver has a passenger present who is over 35, though, this actually decreases fatal crash risks by 8%.

In fatal car wrecks involving teen drivers, the driver dies in about 45% of cases. In 56% of instances, the person who dies is someone traveling in a different vehicle. Another 17% of these road deaths involved either pedestrians or cyclists.

The need for more supervised driving

In 2016 alone, teen drivers found themselves involved in more than 1 million crashes severe enough to warrant law enforcement officers on the scene. Of those crashes, more than 3,200 road deaths resulted. This suggests that teen drivers need to spend more time honing their driving skills with older, more experienced passengers present in their cars.

While having teenage passengers increases crash risks, speeding and driving at night may exacerbate these risks even further.

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