In a recent news release by Zutobi about the increase in teen driving fatalities, there is some good news. More specifically, teen fatalities involving distracted driving has decreased. However, there is some bad news, as each year, thousands of teens lose their lives in car crashes, and hundreds of thousands are treated in emergency rooms for injuries related to motor vehicle crashes. For years, traffic crashes have been the number one teenage killer in America. In 2020, the latest year for statistics, 2,738 teenagers (ages 13-19) died in the United States from crash injuries, and hundreds of thousands were injured.

On a broader level, according to the Zutobi news release, the number of young driver road deaths has been steadily decreasing since 1982 — although there has been a sharp increase in fatalities in the first year of the pandemic. The number of young driver and passenger fatalities increased by 19.5% compared to the previous year.

What are the main causes of fatal teen driving crashes?

¯ Consumption of alcohol: Alcohol is completely banned for those under 21 years of age — despite this, young drivers’ consumption of alcohol remains a large cause of teenage traffic fatalities, with 523 teen drivers killed in DUI crashes in 2020.

¯ Speeding: A recent study from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association found that from 2015 to 2019, teen drivers and passengers had a greater proportion of speeding-related fatalities (43%) than all other age groups (30%), with 4,930 teen drivers and passengers dying in speeding-related crashes.

¯ Distracted driving: Distracted driving is defined as driving while doing another activity that takes your attention away from driving. Due to the nature of being less focused on driving, distracted driving will drastically increase the chance of being involved in a motor vehicle crash. Speaking on a mobile phone while driving increases crash risk by two times, while texting increases the crash risk by up to six times.

Kentucky has the highest rate of driving fatalities in the country, with 71.45 deaths per 100,000 teenage drivers. The second worst state is North Carolina (45.34), followed by Arkansas (45.12), Montana (44.08), and Mississippi (41.89).

The states with the lowest fatality rates are Minnesota (9.52), New Jersey (9.62), Wisconsin (11.02), New Hampshire (11.40), and New York (11.65). Studies have shown that teenage drivers are much more likely to be involved in a serious road crash from the moment they start driving without the supervision of a licensed driver. Many of these crashes can be attributed to distracted driving, speeding and lack of scanning. This suggests a changed behavior when driving alone, which may be due to overconfidence and insufficient (or bad) driver education, among other reasons.

Zutobi is an international driver’s education company with courses in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, France and Germany. Their courses are tailored to the specific traffic laws and regulations in each country and/or state.