KNOWLEDGE MATTERS
While the Country Slowed Down, Drivers Sped Up:
What This Means for Teens By Stacey Tisdale, CPPE, PMP, Project Manager, Youth Transportation Safety Program, Texas A&M Transportation Institute Youth continue to be overrepresented in car crashes throughout the United States. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle crashes continue to be one of the leading causes of injury and death for people under the age of 25 in the U.S., with young drivers having much higher crash rates than older, more experienced drivers. In June 2021, NHTSA estimated crash fatalities for the 16 to 24 age group increased by 15% in 2020, challenging notable progress over the previous few years when we’d seen a downward trend. More recent NHTSA reporting, for early 2021, gives an even more disturbing early estimate of overall crash fatalities of 18.4% . They went on to attribute this overall increase to use of drugs and alcohol, lower uses of seat belts and riskier behavior, including extreme speeding (defined as 20 miles per hour or higher over the posted speed limit).
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GUARDIAN
We at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) program wonder how young drivers have and will fare for the current time period and beyond. As we wait for all 2020 data and 2021 estimates to be released and hope for a decline in these numbers in 2022, the risks mentioned above have not subsided even though roadway travel has almost met pre-pandemic levels. In a time when many of us may feel a lack of control, we know these are trends we can change. The first year of licensure is the most dangerous time for new drivers and bad habits can begin to show up during the first few months of driving on their own. For teens that have just begun driving during these past two years, we wonder if they are adopting these risks they see mirrored by many other drivers currently, such as speeding, low seatbelt use and impairment. Additionally, while for many years these behaviors have been identified as top
driving risks for teens, they are outranked by distractions and nighttime driving. The idea that teens have completely stopped distractions and possibly adopted one of these other risky behaviors instead is far-fetched, so we may assume that they are accumulating a combination of risky habits which will place them at even greater crash risk. Many teens, and even their parents/ guardians, are unaware of the risks they face behind the wheel. Some of the most recent findings from knowledge surveys administered to TDS program schools (11,314 surveys from July 2019 to July 2021) demonstrated only 27% and 32% of teens identified talking on a cellphone and using social media as common risk factors for teen drivers, and only 9% identified driving at night. The TDS program looks to teens to change trends of crashes through positive peer influence since we know that teens learn from each other and influence behaviors of their
