Good News For Young Drivers: Fatal Crashes Fell 38% Since 2002

28.10.2023 - 22:19 / forbes.com

The crash and fatality rates for drivers under 21 have improved drastically over the past two decades – more so than for other drivers. Fatal crashes involving a young driver fell 38%, while they increased nearly 8% for drivers 21 and older, and deaths of young drivers fell about 45%, compared to an 11% increase in fatalities for older drivers.

Those are the highlights of a new report released earlier this month by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), a nonprofit organization representing state highway safety offices, that analyzed federal data from 2002 to 2021.

“Young drivers are the riskiest age group on the road, and the reasons are straightforward – immaturity and inexperience,” Pam Shadel Fischer, the GHSA’s senior director of external engagement and the report’s author. “The brain isn’t fully developed until the early to mid-twenties, particularly the prefrontal cortex, which controls risk assessment and decision-making. Many young drivers simply don’t have the behind-the-wheel experience to recognize risk and take the appropriate corrective action to prevent a crash.”

“And this impacts the safety of everyone on the road, not just the teen behind the wheel,” she added. “In 2021, 63% of the people killed in crashes involving a young driver were their passengers, occupants of other vehicles or pedestrians or bicyclists.”

The report, “Young Drivers and Traffic Fatalities: 20 Years of Progress on the Road to Zero” identifies the policies and programs responsible for the progress in teen driver safety and makes recommendations for how best to continue that success.

Traditionally, young drivers have been nearly four times more likely to be involved in a fatal traffic crash than their older counterparts, but the new study found that young people are less likely to drive today than they were 20 years ago. However, this accounts for only a small portion of the large decreases, researchers said.

The report discusses five proven policies and programs that research confirms the teen driver safety gains can be attributed to and proposes a sixth:

“These education efforts should also focus on the safety of people walking, biking or scooting,” the report noted, “so that novice drivers understand their role in protecting everyone on the road.”

A state-by-state analysis in the report shows that changes in the crash and fatality rates for young drivers vary substantially. Nationally, for example, the young driver crash fatality rate improved in all but three states and the District of Columbia.

GHSA will hold a webinar on October 31 at 2 p.m. ET that will: summarize the report’s findings, discuss what’s behind the improvement in teen fatal crash rates, address future initiatives, and explore how teen