Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for American teens, even above drugs, guns, or any disease; in fact, in 2003, alone, there were an estimated million and a half accidents involving teens (Stafford). In the most recent five-year period for which records are available, teen drivers caused the deaths of nearly 35,000 people (Stafford). There are 324,000 teens injured in accidents every year, with a cost to insurance companies of $32,000,000,000 (St. Clair). Clearly, the issue of teen traffic fatalities needs to be addressed.
The first step is to determine why accidents and fatalities are higher for teens. Rose McMurray, associate administrator for traffic safety programs at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), says that teens are risktakers; 36% of teens involved in crashes in 2000 had been drinking, and 58% were speeding (Franco). McMurray says ôThey think they are immortal,ö and Dennis Doverspike, who studies teen risk-taking attitudes says, ôIt takes several years for driving to become an automatic response, and teens donÆt have these years of experience under their beltsö (Franco). Student driving programs are also at fault, since they often only teach enough for students to pass the exam; parents of one teen who died found that she was not speeding and not drinking, but she had skidded on the ice and had never been taught what to do in a skidö (Franco). Age makes a difference, since 16-year-olds have more crashes than those 17 years old or older, and speeding is also more dangerous, because younger drivers make more mistakes (ôRoad to ruin: car crashes are top teen killerö). Another risk factor is driving with teen passengers; 40% of 16-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2003 had one or more teen passengers (ôRoad to ruin: car crashes are top teen killerö). Furthermore, drivers that participate in one type of reckless driving are more like
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