Despite efforts to implement more stringent graduated licensing requirements and procedures for teenage drivers, the number of teens killed in motor vehicle accidents is on the rise, according to a new study.
During the first half of 2011, the study found, the teen car accident fatality rate increased by 11 percent in comparison with the same time period in 2010. If the increase continued in the second half of the year, 2011 will mark the first year that teen crash fatalities have risen since nearly a decade ago. The report for the second half of 2011 will be released in the next few months.
Specifically, there were 211teenagers (defined as 16- and 17-year-old drivers) killed in the first six months of 2011, according to data compiled by the Governors Highway Safety Association. In the first half of 2010, there were just 190 teen crash fatalities. Nearly half of the U.S. states reported an increase.
Prior to the rise, there had been a historical decline in the number of teenage drivers killed in car accidents. In 1995, there were 1,015 recorded deaths among teen drivers. But 2010, just 408 teens were killed on U.S. roads in New Jersey and throughout the country.
At the same time that teenage fatalities were increasing, the total number of car accident deaths declined by just under 1 percent in the first half of 2011.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a motor vehicle accident involving a teenage driver, please contact Breslin & Breslin for a free consultation.
Source: New York Times, “Fatalities Among Teenage Drivers Rose in First Half of 2011, Study Finds,” Tanya Mohn, Feb. 16, 2012
