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Anatomy of a Teen Car Accident

Nearly half of teen car-crash deaths happen at night. Here's how it usually goes down.

From Reader's Digest

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8:00pm
Jack, 17, drives to Sophia's house on a Friday night. He's late, so he speeds. Speeding is a factor in 35% of crash deaths involving young drivers.

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8:10pm
Jack calls Sophia to tell her he's on his way. Cell phone use increases the crash risk by 300%.

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8:15pm
He picks up Sophia. Adding one passenger increases the fatal crash risk by 48%.

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8:25pm
Jack and Sophia stop to pick up Matt. A second passenger increases the fatality risk by 158%.

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8:30pm
Jack fiddles with the radio to find a good song. 87% of teen deaths involve distracted drivers; radios rank as a top teen distraction.

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8:40pm
They hit the drive-through on their way to a party. Eating at the wheel causes 2% of teen crashes.

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8:50pm
Jack is tired. Nearly half of teens are sleep-deprived, and young drivers cause 55% of fatigue-related crashes.

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9:00pm
It's now dark. For the next nine hours, teens are three times more likely to die in a crash than during the day.

Comments :

By NavyDave83, 09/29/2009, 12:43 AM EDT

Not too many people have commented on this. Either no one cares or no one has read this site except me and Victype. You forgot one thing. Alcohol. Some teens hav 'ways' of getting alcohol, and then go out and drive. Teens just don't seem to have a concept of safe driving. Their idea of driving is showing off and impressing their friends. Getting a license and driving privileges is one way of saying "Look at me, I'm bad"! Since the voting, drinking age is 21, so should driving.

By vlctype1982, 10/28/2008, 9:54 PM EDT

Thank you for posting this slideshow. Our lastborn is now 16 1/2, just got his license here in Ft Worth, and I will have him watch this piece. Great info!