This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Aronson, J. M. Search for Related Content

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

More on teen driving

¹ Rosemont, Pa.

The March 1998 article on teen driver deaths was timely and well-written. Drs. Agran and Schieber did an excellent job of highlighting some of the key information parents of teens and those who interact with them need to know.

Pennsylvania's Child Death Review Team, coordinated by the AAP Pennsylvania Chapter, studies teen vehicular fatalities. Our data show that in the past two years, even with a "graduated license" system, 327 of the 501 child highway fatalities (children age birth through 19) involved teen passengers (153) and teen drivers (174). The remaining 174 deaths were bicyclists (25), child passengers (64) and pedestrians (85). Fatal crash factors involving the teen driver or passenger include a pattern of relative driver inexperience, excessive speed, lack of safety belt use, failure to negotiate curves and an element of risk-talking behavior. A significant number of fatally injured teen passengers were riding in vehicles with teen drivers who had less than a year's driving experience. Oftentimes they were driving late into the night, in weather conditions many adults avoid. Many passengers were very young teens.