Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.
16 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.
16-year-olds are three times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than the average of all drivers.
3,467 drivers age 15-20 died in car crashes in 2005.
Drivers age 15-20 accounted for 12.6 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes in 2005.
Graduated drivers license programs appear to be making a difference. Fatal crashes involving 15- to 20-year olds in 2005 were down 6.5 percent from 7,979 in 1995, to the lowest level in ten years.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the economic impact of auto accidents involving 15-20 year old drivers is over $40 billion.
According to a 2005 survey of 1,000 people ages 15 and 17, conducted by the Allstate Foundation
More than half (56 percent) of young drivers use cell phones while driving,
69 percent said that they speed to keep up with traffic
64 percent said they speed to go through a yellow light.
47 percent said that passengers sometimes distract them.
Nearly half said they believed that most crashes involving teens result from drunk driving.
23 percent of teen drivers killed in 2005 were intoxicated, according
to NHTSA.
Statistics show that 16 and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger (IIHS).