Traffic Safety Facts 1997
Young Drivers
Traffic
Safety Facts
1997
U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
In 1997, 7,885 15- to 20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes -- a 23 percent decrease from the 10,193 involved in 1987. Driver fatalities for this age group decreased by 27 percent between 1987 and 1997. For young males, driver fatalities dropped by 32 percent, compared with a 12 percent decrease for young females (Table 3).
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds (based on 1994 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics). In 1997, 3,336 drivers 15 to 20 years old were killed, and an additional 365,000 were injured, in motor vehicle crashes.
In 1997, 14 percent (7,885) of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes (56,602) were young drivers 15 to 20 years old, and 17 percent (2,001,000) of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes (12,066,000) were young drivers.
Almost one-third (312) of the 15- to 20-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes who had an invalid operator's license at the time of the crash also had a previous license suspension or revocation. For the same age group, almost 30 percent of the drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes during 1997 had been drinking (Table 4).
In 1997, the estimated economic cost of police-reported crashes involving drivers between 15 and 20 years old was $31.9 billion.
When driver fatality rates are calculated on the basis of estimated annual travel, the highest rates are found among the youngest and oldest drivers. Compared with the fatality rate for drivers 25 through 69 years old, the rate for teenage drivers (16 to 19 years old) is about 4 times as high, and the rate for drivers in the oldest group is 9 times as high.
Female drivers under age 50 have a lower fatality rate than their male counterparts, on a per mile driven basis, while the rate is essentially the same for both male and female drivers over 50 years of age, with the exception of the oldest group (Figure 2).
During 1997, 181 young motorcycle drivers (15-20 years old) were killed and an additional 5,000 were injured.
Helmets are estimated to be 29 percent effective in preventing fatalities among motorcyclists. NHTSA estimates that helmets saved the lives of 486 motorcyclists of all ages in 1997, and that if all motorcyclists had worn helmets, an additional 266 lives could have been saved.
During 1997, 47 percent of the motorcycle drivers between 15 and 20 years old who were fatally injured in crashes were not wearing helmets.
Of the young motorcycle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 1997, more than one-quarter (28 percent) were either unlicensed or driving with an invalid license.
NHTSA defines a fatal traffic crash as being alcohol-related if either a driver or a nonoccupant (e.g., pedestrian) had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.01 grams per deciliter (g/dl) or greater in a police-reported traffic crash. Persons with a BAC of 0.10 g/dl or greater involved in fatal crashes are considered to be intoxicated. This is the legal limit of intoxication in most states.
In 1997, 21 percent of the young drivers 15 to 20 years old who were killed in crashes were intoxicated.
The severity of a crash increases with alcohol involvement. In 1997, 3 percent of the 15- to 20-year-old drivers involved in property-damage-only crashes had been drinking, 4 percent of those involved in crashes resulting in injury had been drinking, and 21 percent of those involved in fatal crashes had been drinking.
In both the categories of drivers killed and drivers involved in fatal crashes, the numbers of drivers 15 to 20 years old who were intoxicated dropped by 48 percent between 1987 and 1997.
All states and the District of Columbia now have 21-year-old minimum drinking age laws. NHTSA estimates that these laws have reduced traffic fatalities involving drivers 18 to 20 years old by 13 percent and have saved an estimated 17,359 lives since 1975. In 1997, an estimated 846 lives were saved by minimum drinking age laws. Fifteen states have set 0.08 g/dl as the legal intoxication limit, and 46 states plus the District of Columbia have zero tolerance laws for drivers under the age of 21 (it is illegal for drivers under 21 to drive with BAC levels of 0.02 g/dl or greater).
For young drivers 15 to 20 years old, alcohol involvement is higher among males than among females. In 1997, 25 percent of the young male drivers involved in fatal crashes had been drinking at the time of the crash, compared with 12 percent of the young female drivers involved in fatal crashes.
Drivers are less likely to use restraints when they have been drinking. In 1997, 71 percent of the young drivers of passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking were unrestrained. Of the young drivers who had been drinking and were killed in crashes, 79 percent were unrestrained.
