The main purpose of the study presented in this scientific poster was to determine: (a) whether carrying passengers aged 20 to 24 years is associated with a greater likelihood that teenage drivers will be involved in fatal crashes; and (b) whether these young adult passengers are associated with a greater likelihood that fatally injured teenage drivers have been drinking. Data for 1988-1994 came from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), and from the General Estimates System (GES). The results show that carrying passengers aged 20-24 years significantly increased the rate of teenage driver deaths per 1,000 crashes, even more than carrying only teenage passengers. For drivers aged 16-19 years, the driver death rate per 1,000 crashes was 3.9 with passengers aged 20-24 years and 2.9 with teenage passengers. It is concluded that carrying passengers aged 20-24 years may be even more hazardous for teenage drivers than carrying teenage passengers, because these young adult passengers are strongly associated with lethal crashes. The effect of 20-24 year old passengers may be related in part to a greater likelihood of alcohol involvement, since drivers younger than 21 years cannot legally purchase alcohol. When developing graduated licensure restrictions, consideration should be given to applying passenger restrictions to passengers aged 20-24 years as well as to teenage passengers.
Abstract