National Teen Driving Statistics

* 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.
* 3,490 drivers age 15-20 died in car crashes in 2006, up slightly from 2005.
* Drivers age 15-20 accounted for 12.9 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes in 2006.
* The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the economic impact of auto accidents involving 15-20 year old drivers is over $40 billion.
* A recent report by AAA estimates the cost of crashes involving 15-17 year olds to be $34 billion.
* 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.
* Fewer 16-year-olds are driving. In 2006 only 30 percent of 16-year-olds had their driver's licenses compared to 40% in 1998 according to the Federal Highway Administration.
* According to a 2005 survey of 1,000 people ages 15 and 17, conducted by the Allstate Foundation
o More than half (56 percent) of young drivers use cell phones while driving,
o 69 percent said that they speed to keep up with traffic
o 64 percent said they speed to go through a yellow light.
o 47 percent said that passengers sometimes distract them.
o Nearly half said they believed that most crashes involving teens result from drunk driving.
* 31 percent of teen drivers killed in 2006 had been drinking, according to NHTSA. 25 percent had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.
* Statistics show that 16 and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger (IIHS).

Colorado Teen Driving Statistics

Sources: Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) , Colorado Department of Revenue

* Colorado's first graduated driver licensing laws began in 1999.
* CDOT reports that 43 people age 16-20 died in Colorado car crashes during 2007, a steep drop from previous years.
* Sixty-two 16-20 year-olds died on Colorado roadways in 2006; 79 died in 2005, and 96 died in 2004.
* Of the 43 Colorado teens killed in 2007, 27 (63 percent were not wearing seat belts.
* Of the 62 Colorado teens killed in Colorado in 2006, 42 (68 percent) were not wearing seat belts.
* In 2006, 80 percent of teen passengers who died in car crashes in Colorado were riding with teen drivers
* Teen drivers represent nearly six percent of licensed Colorado drivers, but they account for more than eleven percent of all traffic deaths in the state.
* 28 percent of Colorado's 16-year-olds got drivers licenses in 2006 compared to 60 percent in 1999. That translates to 19,000 16-year-old drivers in 2006 down from 36,000 in 1999.
* Colorado drivers age 19 and younger totaled 150,000 in 2006 compared to 178,000 in 1995.

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Updated: February 28, 2007 1:52 PM
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