Young, inexperienced drivers are four times more likely to be in fatal vehicle crashes than older drivers — but the good news is that there’s drastic improvement in the number of both crashes and deaths involving teens and young adults in the past two decades.
A report released Wednesday by the Governors Highway Safety Association found that fatal crashes involving drivers younger than 21 have fallen 38% since 2002, while increasing 8% for drivers 21 and older. In that time, the number of deaths of young drivers fell about 45%, while deaths for older drivers increased 11%.
While some suggest that an unwillingness to drive among the young is a major factor, the “Young Drivers and Traffic Fatalities: 20 Years of Progress on the Road to Safety” report says that such youthful reluctance to drive “accounts for only a small portion of the large increases.” It notes that when fatal crashes per 10,000 drivers is calculated, the rate fell 34% for drivers younger than 21, while it decreased 12% for drivers 21 and older.
“Young drivers are the riskiest age group on the road and the reasons are straightforward — immaturity and inexperience,” said the association’s senior director of external engagement, Pam Shadel Fischer, in a written statement. She’s also the report’s author and an expert on teen driving safety. “The brain isn’t fully developed until the early to mid-20s, particularly the prefrontal cortex, which controls risk assessment and decision-making. Many young drivers simply don’t have the behind-the-wheel experience to recognize risk and take the appropriate corrective action to prevent a crash.”
Any mistake made by young drivers puts everyone on the road at greater risk, she added, not just the person behind the wheel. “In 2021, 63% of the people killed in crashes involving a young driver were their passengers, occupants of other vehicles or pedestrians or bicyclists.”
The report compared 2002 to 2021, the most recent year for which complete data is available. In 2002, 8,099 fatal crashes involved young drivers, compared to 2021, when there were 5,010. Among drivers 21 and older, there were 33,445 in 2002 and 35,954 in 2021. The numbers were taken from analysis of data in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
The Associated Press couched the numbers against more recent, partial data. The article said that according to National Highway Traffic Safety Commission data, “overall traffic fatalities dropped 3.3% in the first half of the year compared with the prior-year period and have now fallen in five straight quarters after a pandemic surge.”
Wrote AP, “In 2022, there were 42,795 people killed on U.S. roadways, which government officials described at the time as a national crisis.”
Differences by state
The association report also looks at the number of fatal crashes per 10,000 drivers younger than 21 in a state-by-state comparison.
Nationally, in 2002, there were 6.48 fatal crashes per 10,000 licensed drivers under age 21, compared to 4.27 in 2021.
Washington, D.C., had the biggest increase in its fatal crash rate among young drivers over the 20 years, from 6.1 crashes per 10,000 young drivers in 2002 to 17.17 in 2021, a 181.4% increase. Other states with increases in young driver-involved fatalities were Mississippi (0.8%), Montana (14%) and North Dakota (59.7%).
The rest of the states saw decreases, some of them significant. The rate in Minnesota fell 71.2%, while the rate in South Dakota fell 62.3%. Wyoming’s decreased 61%.
In 2021, the states with the highest number of fatal crashes involving young drivers per 10,000 young drivers were Washington, D.C. (17.17), Kentucky (9.66) and New Mexico (9.18).
The states with the lowest number of fatal crashes involving young drivers per 10,000 young drivers were Minnesota (1.66), New Hampshire (1.76) and Massachusetts (1.99).
Prioritizing safety
The report was created to celebrate 20 years of the Ford Driving Skills for Life program, the association’s partnership with the Ford Motor Company Fund. The free, hands-on program teaches teens critical driving-related skills.
Besides comparing young to older drivers and analyzing state data, the association report includes a series of recommendations to make the roads safer for young drivers and those who encounter them. It recommends:
- Strengthening graduated driver license laws. Those give teens time to practice skills by imposing restrictions like no driving with peers without a certain level of experience or not driving at night. The report says states should consider applying graduated restrictions to those 18-20, as Maryland and New Jersey have done.
- Getting parents, guardians and other adults more involved, including putting parent education elements into state licensing requirements.
- Ensuring everyone can access driver training, which should be financially and culturally accessible and relatable.
- Offering “impactful peer-to-peer education programs” led by teens, with measurable goals.
- Taking advantage of tech and apps that help drivers, including vehicle safety features and education on driving electric vehicles. The report notes education should include limitations of safety technology.
- Incorporating technology and driver responsibility into driver education so technology is used correctly and inexperienced drivers know their role in protecting everyone.
Among other resources to boost young driver safety, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers a downloadable Peer-to-Peer Teen Traffic Safety Program Guide, which includes teen-led traffic safety programs.