The Risks

What groups are at greater risk?

The specific groups  that are disproportionately affected include males and Hispanic and American Indians.

• The death rate for 16-19 year old male passengers and drivers was 2 times that of female teens.

Table 1: Proportion of risky drivers among age and gender.

• Hispanic and American Indian teens had about 2.6 times the risk of dying in a car accident compared to their Caucasian counterparts.

What specific teenage behaviors increase teen risk?

Risky Behaviors:

The belief in being “invincible” and the fact of being inexperienced make teens likely to:

• Speed
• Follow too closely
• Fail to yield
• Weave on the road
• Drive erratically
• Try risky maneuvers
• Goof off or show off
• Race others

What are the social pressures induced by teen passengers that may cause a teen to have an accident?

• Passengers can distract young drivers, who need to pay full attention because they are still learning the skill of driving.
• Passengers induce risk taking and are less likely to intervene when the driver is participating in a risky behavior out of a need for social acceptance.
• A teenage driver is 2.5 times more likely to engage in one or more potentially risky behaviors when driving with one teenage peer compared to when driving alone.