Teen Drivers with Teen Passengers at Greater Risk

A recent study conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA) found that the more teen passengers a teen driver had in the car, the riskier the driving and the greater potential for them to be involved in a serious accident.

Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, and parents need to be aware of the potential for their teen to be hurt -- or even killed -- in a car full of young people, whether they're driving or not.

Speeding

The AAA Foundation found that speeding among teens alone in their car occurred 30% of the time. This rate increased to 44% when the teen driver had two teen passengers, and 48% with three or more teens in the vehicle.


Late-Night Driving

Also, teens who got behind the wheel late at night (from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.) increased from only 17% when they were alone, to 22 percent with two teen passengers, and to 28% with three or more teens in the car with the driver. Numerious studies have shown that driving at night is considerably more dangerous than driving during daylight hours.

Alcohol

Alcohol also was more prevalent with other teens in the car. When a teen was driving alone, alcoholic beverages were present 13% of the time, but with two teen passengers, the rate went up to 17%, and 18% with three or more passengers under 20 years old.

"Mixing young drivers with teen passengers can have dangerous consequences," says Dave Overstreet, public affairs director for AAA Washington. "AAA urges parents to set and consistently enforce family rules that limit newly licensed teens from driving with young passengers."

Recent legislation in numerous states, including Washington, has restricted new teen drivers from carrying passengers under 20 years old. This, combined with more active parental control, will hopefully result in reduced teen accidents and fatalities.

Source: AAA of Washington