What’s At Stake
This year, like every year, more than 5,000 teens will likely die on America’s roads. National Teen Driver Safety Week was established by Congress in 2007 to focus attention on the nation’s epidemic of teen car crashes and to find solutions.
There are many well-known factors that raise a teen driver’s risk of getting in a fatal crash: Speeding, drinking, talking on a cell phone and driving at night are among them. Yet there’s another dangerous factor that recent research shows few teens recognize: peer passengers.
Just one teen passenger doubles the risk a teen driver will get into a fatal crash; three or more passengers quadruples the risk. Yet a recent study by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm Insurance Companies® found that only 1 in 10 teens knows that giving a friend a ride is dangerous.
The risk is not just for the driver: Another CHOP and State Farm study released this year found that starting at ages 12 to 14, a child passenger’s risk of dying in a crash with a teen driver doubles, and the risk continues to rise for each teen year. Most teen passengers who die in crashes are riding with a teen driver.
Based on this research, National Teen Driver Safety Week 2008 focused on increasing teens’ awareness of how passengers contribute to driver distraction, a leading cause of crashes for teens. Teens have helped develop the Ride Like A Friend peer-to-peer program, including practical tips on how passengers can be helpful. Buckling up, limiting cell phone conversations, and respecting the driver are some of the messages the program offered to teens.
This research also supports the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for graduated driver licensing laws and parents to require that teens not transport passengers under age 21 for the first six months of licensure and no more than one passenger under age 21 for the second six months.
National Teen Driver Safety Week 2008 took place Oct. 19th to 25th. The Ride Like A Friend campaign is supported by CHOP and State Farm.
Key Messages from NTDSW 2008
National Teen Driver Safety Week 2008
encouraged organizers to spread five key messages:
- Distractions are deadly for teen drivers. Distractions are the No. 1 reason new drivers crash, and car crashes are the leading killer of teens.
- Peer passengers are a major factor in fatal teen crashes. Just one teen passenger doubles the risk a teen driver will get in a fatal crash. Having three or more peer passengers quadruples the risk.
- Few teens know about this risk. Only 1 in 10 teens consider the presence of peer passengers to influence their safety
- Teens can “ride like a friend” by wearing a seat belt, reducing distractions, respecting the driver, and helping the driver if asked. These safe passenger behaviors will help reduce crash risk and injuries and death due to crashes.
- Teens should limit peer passengers during the first year of independent driving. Fatal crash risk hits a lifetime high in the first six months of independent driving. Teen drivers should have no passengers under age 21 during the first six months after licensure, and no more than one peer passenger for the second six months.
- Teen passengers should not ride with novice drivers. Most teen passengers who die on the road are riding with teen drivers. Teens should not ride with peers for at least the first six months of independent driving.
