TEEN DRIVER CRASHES POSE GREATEST THREAT TO OTHER ROAD USERS, ACCORDING TO AAA FOUNDATION ANALYSIS

AAA Auto Club South To Focus Advocacy Efforts on Strengthening Florida’s Teen Driver Safety Law

TAMPA, FL (January 18) - The majority of people killed in teen driver crashes are people other than the teen drivers themselves, according to a recent analysis of ten years of crash data by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

The new analysis shows that young novice drivers comprise slightly more than one-third of all the fatalities in crashes in which they are involved; whereas nearly two-thirds of those killed are other vehicle users and pedestrians. AAA Auto Club South says these new data provide new urgency to AAA’s advocacy efforts to strengthen Florida’s graduated licensing law (GDL).

“It’s clear from this analysis that we have to approach the issue of teen driver safety in a different way,” said Kevin Bakewell, Senior Vice President, AAA Auto Club South. “We need to focus on the effects teen driver crashes have on others in addition to the teen drivers themselves.”

AAA Teen Driver Study

Another story on the same study:

New teenage drivers are more dangerous than previously thought: Nearly two of every three people killed in crashes involving 15- to 17-year-old drivers are people other than the driver, auto club AAA will announce today.

Teenagers have long been the riskiest on the road. AAA's analysis shows that unlike elderly drivers, who mostly kill themselves when they crash, new teen drivers involved in wrecks have an impact far beyond their own families.

"When we talk about teen driver safety, it tends to be viewed as a problem that affects teen drivers," says Robert Darbelnet, CEO of the auto club. "I don't want to de-emphasize the importance of (teenage) casualties, but your mother might be in a car hit by a teen driver."

USA Today Story: Risk of teen drivers reaches others

No crap. When you see 5 people crammed in a Civic, who's driving? Not Aunt Edna. She's got the Grand Marquis.

The elderly are just as bad though.

I remember seeing statistics for Ontario when I was in driving school (pretty much mandatory here). There were very close to the same number of drivers in Ontario aged 16-21 as there were aged 65+. There were also very close to the same number of accidents and fatalities from each group.

What I notice about elderly drivers is that they do most of the same idiotic thing young drivers do except in a slower, more predictable fashion. Kid will bomb across six lanes of interstate traffic to make an exit while Gramps will do the same...at 25mph. At least there's some preditability in it.

Big differences I also notice are that young people dash in and out of traffic more while old people drive into building more.

I think the elderly kill themselves more than they kill other people like teens. But watch out for the old fart that plows through a open market area.

They need to make it harder to get a licence today. Thats all. Every generation that teaches their children also teaches their bad habits or misinformed use of roadways, then this is compounded generation to generation as more bad habits or misunderstandings are added to the pile.

Annual or biannual testing/classes for older folks would be beneficial too, sometimes its just bad habits or loosing the edge. Most of the problems are caused by not being able to turn the head and look, this creats a habit of not even trying to look. Last week I had a old guy stop in the middle of a state highway but kept creeping forward, I had no idea what he was up to, when I went by he was looking into a parking lot, either unaware or uncareing that someone was behind him and he was still in the middle of the highway who knows but they need to be reminded that this is not OK and can cause serious accidents.

Little girls on the other hand need to learn that everybody isnt going to lock up their brakes and stop what they are doing so they dont have to wait at a stop sign for the road to clear. "well, maybe if I act like Im going to pull out in front of them they will stop and let me go " Eventually one day they wind up in a minivan or SUV and really do believe everyone should stop what they are doing because no one else in the world is doing anything nearly as important.

Young boys need to learn that the highway is not a video game.

Wait, so people who dont have a lot of experience driving get into more accidents? I'm shocked!

Make it harder to get a license, educate people better, double the points on the license for drivers under 25 (I wouldn't be driving right now if that were the case, but anyways) and dont let drivers under 25 plead multiple tickets per year down to non-moving, non-point violations.

In MO, 8 points and your license is suspended. You get 2 points for a speeding ticket (3 if it is issued by the highway patrol) and other violations have their own point values. The thing is though that I can get a speeding ticket, go in a plead not guilty, talk to the prosecuting attorney and plead guilty to an equipment violation. The fine+court costs is $70 compared to $50 for a speeding ticket, but you dont get the points off your license. It is too easy for people to develop bad habits early because there is minimal punishment.

Sad but true. There are too many ricers out there.

And what's worse, it's drivers like us who has no record and younger age, the moronic insurance companies have a great excuse to rip more money from us.

Sad, just sad.

Yes teen drivers (I'm one, I'm 19) do perform miserably at the task of driving, whether it's the guys trying one-up each other, or some cheerleader on a cell phone. However, older drivers pose just as much of a threat, with ridiculous (if slow) manoeuvres and a similar lack of attention. I had one single car accident try to avoid an elderly driver. My poor Monte! How ironic, eh? An teen and an old person in a related accident.