CHP program seeks to save teenagers

Valley Press on ^ | Monday, February 5, 2007. | ALISHA SEMCHUCK

[BenLurkin]

Cars can kill or maim. Alert cautious drivers can make the difference between life and death. That's the message a safety training program of the California Highway Patrol hopes to drive home to teens and their parents.

CHP Officer Ross said the next session of the Start Smart Program is set for mid-February at the Antelope Valley station in Lancaster...

Teens comprise 10% of the U.S. population, yet they account for 14% of traffic fatalities nationwide, according to the most recent data available. A report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said teens "learning the new skills needed for driving frequently engage in high-risk behaviors such as speeding, or driving after using alcohol or drugs."

These young drivers are easily distracted while behind the wheel, the report noted.

"On average, well over 5,000 teens die in crashes every year," a report by The Allstate Foundation said. As a group, teenage drivers "have a higher crash risk than do other age groups, and 16-year-old drivers have the highest risk of all."

The No. 1 leading cause is driver error, followed by speeding, and then alcohol. "The crash rate per mile by 16- to 19-year-olds is four times that of older drivers," according to the report.

That same year, traffic crashes nationwide claimed the lives of 5,988 people between 16 and 20... In California during 2004, 940,900 people between 15 and 19 had licenses or permits to drive, the CHP Web site reported. Of that number, 534 were involved in fatal crashes and 37,715 were in accidents that resulted in injury.

Teen driving trends in Nevada and Kentucky reflected similar statistics. A Kentucky Highway Safety Performance Plan issued in 2006 noted that nearly 20% of all crashes and 16% of fatal crashes in 2004 involved teenage drivers.

[Atlas Sneezed]

some observations:

1. The "% of fatalities" number understates the real risk, which is better reflected by the fatality per mile rate (because teens drive fewer miles). That risk is well-put here at about 4x.

2. Some if this can be inherently chalked up to inexperience. You have to learn sometime, and inexperience will temporarily increase the risk.

3. Elderly (80+) drivers are just as prone to traffic fatalities (though their fatality rate numbers are somewhat inflated because of their medical fragility.)

[CaliGirl-R]

I received an email 2 days ago with some absolutely gruesome pictures taken at the scene of a teen's fatal accident caused by speeding. These are pictures that shouldn't have gotten out to the public. The parents are trying to get them offline and trying to find out who released them, they are that bad. I am still haunted.

When I searched this girl's name, I came across many messageboards where people were debating showing these particular pictures to their own teenage drivers to show them what can happen.

I showed them to my daughter, a new driver.

[AmericanChef]

I don't go more than 10 mph when I'm in the school zone dropping off my daughter. She won't ride with her friends, either - their driving scares the crap out of her! She has one driver friend in a wheelchair right now. Uh-huh. Car accident.

[old gringo]

you have that wrong,the bad eldery drivers couldn't drive when they were young,as they got older they just got worse.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I disagree. Your hypothesis doesn't explain the statistics.