Are teenage car accident rates still increasing from 1996?

I would like to also know if a GDL (Graduated Driver's License) program should be necessary for all teenage drivers?Are teenage car accident rates still increasing from 1996?
Yes. The GDL program should be necessary for all teenage drivers. Here is proof of that.





This study was taken in 2006.





Graduated driver licensing programs reduce, by an average of 11 percent, the incidence of fatal crashes of 16-year-old drivers, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health鈥檚 Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. When examining the most comprehensive programs, which include at least five of seven components the researchers found about a 20 percent reduction in fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers. The report was supported primarily by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.





As far as teenage accident rates increasing it is a proven fact that the rates are still on the rise since 1996. Here are statistics to support this.





* Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S.





* Each year, more than 5,000 teens (ages 16-20) are killed inpassenger vehicle crashes.





* During 2006, a teen died in a traffic crash an average of once every hour on weekends and nearly once every two hours during the week.





Nationally in 2006, 4,842 teen passenger vehicle occupants, ages 16 to 20, were killed in motor vehicle crashes, and 58 percent (2,813) were unrestrained at the time of the fatal crash.Are teenage car accident rates still increasing from 1996?
Yes it should..........





DECEMBER 2008





Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15- to 20-year olds.





According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 3,490 drivers in this age group died in motor vehicle crashes in 2006 and an additional 272,000 were injured.





Drivers age 15- to 20-years old accounted for 12.9 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes.





Twenty-five percent of teen drivers killed were intoxicated. In 2006 (latest data available) crashes involving 15 to 17 year olds cost more than $34 billion nationwide, in medical costs, property damage and other costs, according to an AAA analysis.





Among licensed drivers, young people between the ages of 15 and 20 have the highest rate of fatal crashes relative to other age groups, including the elderly.





In fact, the risk of being involved in a fatal crash for teens is three times greater than for drivers age 65 to 69.





Immaturity and lack of driving experience are the two main factors leading to the high crash rate among teens.





Graduated licensing laws, which include a three-phase program that allows teen drivers to develop mature driving attitudes and gain experience behind the wheel, have been successful in reducing teen motor vehicle accidents.
The prior two answers are EXCELLENT! I would only add that not all 50 states have a graduated licensing program for teens.


Those states offset the stats of the other states for decreasing the number of traffic collisions involving teens.


It was just reported that, nationwide, traffic fatalities fell for the first time in many years. This is ALL age groups, not just teens.