I generally like to keep this weekly column somewhat light-hearted when possible; this is not one of those weeks. Recently someone emailed me with a request for information about teen drivers. Without even looking at new data I can tell you the basics; young drivers (age 16-25) make up 13 percent of the driving population but are involved in 31 percent of Washington’s fatal crashes. And right now it’s peak season for teen driver crashes.
We’re one month in to what is often referred to as the “100 deadliest days,” the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The summer months get this grim moniker because of the increase in fatal crashes involving teen drivers during this timeframe and, despite decreases in traffic volume (which you’ve probably noticed has recently been picking back up), this summer we have reason to be concerned. Since Memorial Day, eight drivers in the 15 to 19 age range have been involved in fatal crashes in Washington, the most (tying 2018 and 2016) in the last seven years.
To give that some context, let’s take a look at teen driving fatalities over the past seven years. (I chose seven years because that’s how far back the WSP Collision Analysis Tool goes.) Before we get into the data, I want to remind us all that these aren’t just numbers, they’re our kids. Traffic data sometimes looks like a statistics problem, but it’s actually a family and community tragedy. Over the past seven years Washington has averaged 45.8 teen driver-involved fatalities. This year, at the six month mark, we’re already at 27. If we were to break the yearly average into a monthly average we’d see 3.8 fatalities involving teen drivers each month. But it isn’t spread out evenly through the year. During the 100 deadliest days teen driver fatalities average over five per month, and in the first third of the 100 days (the worst month of the year) the average is 6.4 fatalities. And again, in the first third this year there have been 8 fatalities.
The problem with a phrase like “100 deadliest days” is that it can seem hopeless. We might start assuming that’s the way it’s been and how it’ll always be. That’s just not the case. We know there are ways to keep our youngest drivers safer, and if you have a teen driver in your life you’re part of the solution. Driving is the number one cause of death for teenagers in the United States but that doesn’t mean the risk is evenly spread to all teens. Parents play a big role in the safety of their new drivers. Creating and enforcing family driving rules and setting a good driving example will go a long way to keeping your driving kids safer.
If you don’t want to take all the heat for putting restrictions on your new drivers, blame it on the Department of Licensing; they’ll back you up. The Intermediate Driver License (IDL) puts restrictions on new drivers, including:
- Limiting the number of passengers (Having three passengers increases crash risk by 282 percent)
- Keeping young drivers off the road late at night (Night driving increases crash risk by 400 percent)
- Prohibiting all phone use, even if it’s hands-free (Phone use increases crash risk by 400 percent; texting increases risk by 800 percent)
These risk factors are cumulative. A teen driving at night with three passengers who is texting increases their risk of a crash by a staggering 1482 percent.
Maybe you’re not too worried about your young driver because you readily admit you made some dumb driving choices when you were a teen and you survived. Yeah, lots of us did some dumb stuff in cars when we were teens. But when’s the last time you drove like a teenager? Been a while hasn’t it? That’s why teen driving fatalities are so much higher than that of adult drivers. You do enough dumb driving maneuvers and eventually it won’t work out. That actually is a statistics problem, but not one that anyone wants to personally have to work through.
The good news is that most teens, most of the time, are actually making good driving choices. And with the help of influential adults in their lives – parents, teachers, coaches, mentors – we can move the needle from “most teens” toward “all teens” and “most of the time” toward “all of the time.” If you’re around teen drivers, you’ll probably have an opportunity at some point to nudge them toward better driving decisions. Looking at the risks teen drivers face, it’s obvious that it’s an opportunity worth taking.