Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Teens with passengers at higher risk for fatal crashes, study finds

An interesting study by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute has found Texas drivers age 15 to 17 who carry passengers are 12 times more likely to have a fatal crash than adults with passengers.

The report, released today, compared crash data between 2002 and 2011. It found that even as fatalities decreased, the percentage of novice drivers carrying passengers in fatal accidents jumped, indicating the safest practice for new drivers might be to go it alone — and to refrain from fumbling with their phones.

“Total teen fatal crashes per year declined, but the relative risk for young drivers carrying teen passengers actually increased substantially – at this same time, text messaging exploded in American society,” said Russell Henk, the primary author of the study. “We can’t scientifically state that there’s a direct link between those two things yet, but it seems reasonable to suspect a connection.”

What officials can conclusively say is in driving with passengers increases the relative risk for young drivers. Nationwide, drivers age 15-17, with one or more passengers age 13 to 17, are eight times more likely than adults with passengers to have a fatal accident. During the decade studied, the number of fatal teen accidents dropped 60 percent, but more of them happened when other teens were in the car.

“The decline in the number of novice drivers in fatal crashes certainly indicates substantial improvement,” according to the report. “At the same time, however, the increase in the proportion of fatal crashes involving novice drivers that also include multiple teen passengers relative to those crashes with somewhat older and more experienced – but still young – drivers, should at the very least raise cautionary flags with respect to the persistence of fatal crash issues among novice teen drivers that merit continued attention.”

The increased happened as many states, including Texas, enacted strict graduated licencing programs that limit when and with whom teen drivers may hit the road. Texas forbids drivers under 18 from driving with more than one passenger under age 21 during the first year of licensed driving, though exceptions for family members can apply.

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source: Chron (AP, 9/26)

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