Washington Injury Law Blog

A study paid for by State Farm Insurance found that car crashes cause the most teen and tween deaths annually. The most dangerous circumstances for young passengers are: riding unbuckled with new teen driver on high speed road (over 45 mph speed limit), riding with driver who has been drinking, male teen drivers, and driving on weekends.

Researchers reviewed national data on serious car accidents from 2000 to 2005. During those years 2.5 million kids ages 8 to 17 were involved in a car crash and 9,807 of them died from their accident injuries. The risk of death for kids riding with teens drivers is at least double that of riding with drivers 25 and older. Teens with less than one year’s experience were the most dangerous.

Parents the message is clear – Don’t let your kids ride with a teen driver who has less than a year’s experience. Insist in seatbelts and find ways for your kids to resist peer pressure to ride in cars driven by other teens.

Study data also suggests that restricting driving privileges reduces these risks. Making the age requirement higher, forbidding other child passengers until a certain age, and restricting the hours that can operate a vehicle can all help in reducing the dangers to our kids. Perhaps Washington should look enacting

Source: Seattle PI, March 4, 2008, by reported Lindsey Tanner