Personal Injury Law

Study Shows Reduction In Teen Fatal Car Crashes

By Mark Siesel, Esq.

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new study with surprising results. Fatal car accidents involving teens steadily declined from 2004 through 2008, despite the increasing popularity and dangers of texting while driving and the numerous warnings of distracted driving on the nation's roadways. The number of fatalities dropped from approximately 2,200 in 2004 to roughly 1,400 in 2008. The study examined 16 and 17 year old drivers, who were involved in 9,600 accidents during the five year period, with more than 11,000 dying, including more than 4,000 of the teen drivers and in excess of 3,400 passengers.

Teen Fatalities have been declining since 1996, with the advent of safer vehicles equipped with air bags and highway improvements. The study also determined that non-fatal car crashes have dropped by 31% from 2004 through 2008. According to experts, another major reason for the decline in fatalities is that the majority of states are now enhancing restrictions on when teens can drive and when they can have passengers in their vehicles. A spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Russ Rader, noted that teens are not necessarily driving safer but "state laws enacted in the last 15 years are taking teens out of the most hazardous situations."

The CDC study revealed that Wyoming has the highest fatality rate, with approximately 60 16-17 year old driver deaths per 100,000 drivers that age. New York and New Jersey have the lowest rate, at about 10 per 100,000.

Full post as published by New York Legal Blog on October 26, 2010 (boomark / email).