DID YOU KNOW????

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of teen fatalities, accounting for 44% of teen deaths in the U.S.

• Young drivers are involved in fatal crashes at more than twice the rate of all others
• The first year for a newly licensed teenage driver is the most dangerous, with more than one in five involved in crashes
• Each year nearly 6,000 teens are killed in vehicular accidents; more than 3,800 are drivers aged 15-20
• Annually, more than 326,000 young drivers are seriously injured
• 116 young drivers were killed in Colorado in 2007; 86 (74%) were not wearing safety belts; 56 of these were ejected from the vehicle
• More than half the deaths occurred between Friday and Sunday; 41% occurred between 9:00pm and 6:00am
• Exceeding the posted speed limit or driving at an unsafe speed is the most common error in fatal teenage accidents
• More than 1,000 young drivers lose their lives each year in crashes because of an impaired driver, be it themselves or someone else
• Although this group represents about 7% of the nations’ licensed drivers, they are involved in nearly 15% of all fatal crashes