Despite
a lack of practice time and proper instruction, today's
teen drivers have greater access to a car and are
exposed to more high-risk driving situations.
- Forty-one
percent of 16 to 19 year olds in the United States
own cars.
- As
more parents are working outside of the home and
for extended hours, teen drivers are often viewed
as a convenience-transporting themselves to and
from school and after school activities, shuttling
siblings, and running errands.
- Teen
drivers are traveling on increasingly congested
and overcrowded highways significantly increasing
their crash risk. According to the Texas Transportation
Institute's 2004 Urban Mobility Report, traffic
congestion levels have increased in every area across
the United States from city streets to rural roads.
- Historically,
young male drivers had a higher crash rate in comparison
to young female drivers. However in 2003, young
male driver fatalities rose by 9 percent, while
the crash rate for young female drivers climbed
25 percent.
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