Most of the people killed in crashes involving young drivers (15 through 20 years of age) are the young drivers themselves or passengers in the vehicles driven by the young drivers. Most of these passengers are in the same age group as the young drivers. These data are from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Of the 8,738 people killed in crashes involving young drivers in 2004, 3,620 (41%) were the young drivers themselves and 2,391 (27%) were passengers in the vehicles driven by the young drivers (see Chart 1). The remaining 2,727 (31%) were occupants of other vehicles, nonoccupants and occupants of vehicles not in transport. Among the 2,391 passengers killed in vehicles driven by young drivers, 1,523 (64%) were passengers in the same age group (see Chart 2). Thus, of all the people killed in crashes involving young drivers, a majority (5,143 or 59%) were 15- to 20-year-olds. (Author/publisher)
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