• The risk of crash involvement per mile driven by 16-19 year-olds is 4 times the risk compared to older drivers.  Over 20% of  all US traffic deaths occur while a teen was driving.

• Risk is highest at age 16. The crash rate per mile is almost 3 times as high among 16 year-olds as it is among 18-19 year-olds.

• A teen dies at a rate of one per hour on weekends and 2 per hour on weekdays.

• Teen drivers include approximately 6.7% of licensed drivers in Alabama, yet accounted for 12.2% of crashes and 8.7% of fatal crashes.

• More than 59% of teen passenger deaths occur in crashes in which another teen is driving.

• About 40% of teenagers' fatalities occur at night, especially weekend nights.  Young drivers do only 20% of their driving at night, but over 50% of the adolescent crash deaths occur during the night time hours.

• More than half of teenage motor vehicle deaths occur on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  Forty-one percent occur between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

• Sixteen-year-old drivers have a crash rate three times more than 17-year-olds, 5 times greater than 18-year-olds, and two times that of 85 year-olds.

• For teen drivers, the presence of one passenger almost doubles the fatal crash risk compared with driving alone.  With two or more passengers the risk is five times as high.

• Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of safety belt use.

If you are between the ages of 15 and 20, motor vehicle crashes are THE leading cause of death in the United States. Not alcohol or other drugs, not guns, not illness or disease --but TRAFFIC CRASHES!! One study found it takes as many as 30,000 miles or as long as 7 years to mature as a driver. In other words, the odds are not in favor of young drivers, and in particular those who may not have received any type of formal driver training.