I found this table when I was looking into Massachusett's Graduated Licensing Program because my 18-year-old son decided he'd like to get a driver's license. It is shocking isn't it?! Twenty-two percent of 16&17-year-old drivers get in accidents in each year! Wow. But then, I read this statistic from a Boston Globe article on elder drivers:
"But elderly drivers, who typically have a small orbit, cause
almost four times as many fatal accidents as teenagers when you take
into account miles driven, according to a Carnegie Mellon study."
Double wow.
More reasons on why it is time to focus on more transportation options that don't involve cars.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Frightening stats on elder & teen driving
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3 comments:
Indeed. We should also reconsider the driving age. Back in the day, the law was you could learn to drive at 16 (15 3/4) years old, and learn to drink at 18 (which meant earlier for many teens). Instead of raising the driving age, which is probably enforceable, we raised the drinking age to 21, which is much more difficult to guarantee.
It is fairly common in Europe for the driving age to be 18 (and the drinking age to be much younger), so hopefully kids already know how to manage their alcohol before getting behind the wheel.
That said, problem would also be solved by cars that drive themselves.
Wow, scary numbers. I am the mother of a 15 year old that will be driving next year. I would total support increasing the driving age to 18, although I am sure my son would disagree.
That is huge rate in teen driving accidents.
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