National Teen Driver Safety Week: Ford Shares Research on Teen Driving Deaths

A recent report funded by a grant from the Ford Motor Company identifies a decrease in teen deaths since 2004 but still shows risks for older teen drivers. In fact, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety [IIHS], mile for mile, teens continue to have the highest crash risk of any age group on the road.

Releasing results to correspond with National Teen Driver Safety Week (October 16-22, 2016), the report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) examines ten years of crash data to identify the differences in fatal crashes between older and younger teens, as well as by gender, and provides a set of 11 policy and best practice recommendations for states to implement.

To read more of the report “Mission Not Accomplished: Teen Safe Driving, the Next Chapter,” an interactive PDF version of the report is available online at GHSA.org.

According to the report, while much progress has been made over the last ten years to reduce teen driver-involved traffic crashes and deaths, teen drivers are still 1.6 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than their adult counterparts, and teen-involved fatal crashes increased by 10 percent from 2014 to 2015 -- the first uptick since 2006.

The report also reveals that while great progress has been made at reducing younger teen driver deaths (ages 15-17), more needs to be done for older teen drivers (ages 18-20). The report provides recommendations for actions that can be taken to continue a decrease in teen deaths.

Among their recommendations, the GHSA also recommends expanding graduated driver licensing laws. Graduated Driver Licensing laws, initiated in 1996, have successfully reduced fatal crashes among teens. The GHSA also suggests that teen drivers should complete a defensive driving and/or behind the wheel program.

“This data shows that smart programs, like Driving Skills for Life, that focus on teen driving behavior have been very successful in helping novice and younger drivers be safer on the roads,” said Jim Graham, Global Manager for the Ford Driving Skills for Life program.

Ford Driving Skills for Life was established in 2003 by Ford Motor Company Fund, the Governors Highway Safety Association, and a panel of safety experts to teach newly licensed teens and parents the necessary skills for safe driving beyond what they learn in standard driver education programs. The basic premise behind Ford Driving Skills for Life is to create a step in the learning process, providing new skills and information not currently shared with newly licensed drivers in the basic driver education courses.

The program has trained more than a million individuals in safe driving practices. It is offered in 35 countries, and hands-on driving clinics have been conducted in all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

 

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