New research highlights the risky behavior of a car full of teens. The study was conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The study concluded that risky driving behavior of 16 and 17 year olds driving resulted in fatal car crashes while other teens were in the car.
AAA Oklahoma spokesman, Danial Karnes, says, “Ninety-five hundred drivers, ages 16 and 17 were involved in fatal collisions. Almost 4,000 of those, or 42%, included at least one teen passenger in the vehicle. So when we see those types of numbers, we automatically start thinking, more risky behavior is occurring when teens have other teens in the vehicle with them.”
The study shows that the risky behavior generally increases as the number of teen passengers increase. Because of the new information from the study, and in recognition of National Teen Driver Safety Week, AAA is urging parents to get involved with their teens whom are driving, and stay involved.
“Alcohol use, 13%, with no teen drivers. That jumped to 18% when you added 3 teen passengers in car,” says Karnes. “We need to continue to educate our teens. When they get their driver’s license, it’s not a free for all for, oh they got their license, they can go out and drive, they know all they can know. Because with driving and with many other things, experience helps, and every time we go get in the car, it doesn’t matter what age you are, you could have a different experience that you’ve never experienced before. That’s why we say parents still need to be involved with their teen's driving.”
Speeding, late-night driving, and alcohol use, are all types of risky behavior that increase with the more teen passengers in a vehicle with a teen driver.