Young Drivers
Traffic Safety Facts 1996

U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Alcohol

In 1996, 8,054 15- to 20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes -- a 23 percent decrease from the 10,470 involved in 1986. Driver fatalities for this age group decreased by 27 percent between 1986 and 1996. For young males, driver fatalities dropped by 34 percent, compared with a 4 percent decrease for young females (Table 3).

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds (based on 1993 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics). In 1996, 3,387 drivers 15 to 20 years old were killed, and an additional 373,000 were injured, in motor vehicle crashes.

In 1996, 14 percent (8,054) of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes (56,793) were young drivers 15 to 20 years old, and 16 percent (1,914,000) of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes (12,173,000) were young drivers.

Almost one-third 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 1996 had been drinking (Table 4).

In 1996, the estimated economic cost of police-reported crashes involving drivers between 15 and 20 years old was $32.3 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 to 65 years old, the rate for teenage drivers is about 4 times as high, and the rate for drivers in the oldest group is 17 times as high. Young 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.

Motorcycles

During 1996, 212 young motorcycle drivers (15-20 years old) were killed and an additional 7,000 were injured.

Helmets are estimated to be 29 percent effective in preventing fatalities among motorcyclists. NHTSA estimates that helmets saved the lives of 490 motorcyclists of all ages in 1996, and that if all motorcyclists had worn helmets, an additional 279 lives could have been saved.

During 1996, 51 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 1996, more than one-quarter (29 percent) were either unlicensed or driving with an invalid license.

Alcohol

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 1996, 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 1996, 2 percent of the 15- to 20-year-old drivers involved in property-damage-only crashes had been drinking, 3 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 54 percent between 1986 and 1996 -- the largest declines of any age group.

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 16,513 lives since 1975. Thirteen states have set 0.08 g/dl as the legal intoxication limit, and 43 states plus the District of Columbia have zero tolerance laws for drivers under the age of 21 (that is, drivers under 21 with BAC levels above 0.02 g/dl are considered to be legally intoxicated by the state).

For young drivers 15 to 20 years old, alcohol involvement is higher among males than among females. In 1996, 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 1996, 76 percent of the young drivers involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking were unrestrained. Of the young drivers who had been drinking and were killed in crashes, 81 percent were unrestrained.