In 2009, 2,336 15- to 20 year-old drivers were killed, and 196,000 were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes. 5,148 15- to 20-year old drivers were involved in fatal traffic crashes – which is a 37 percent decrease from the 8,224 involved in 2000. In the 15- to 20-year-old age group, driver fatalities declined by 35 percent between 2000 and 2009. In 2009, 11 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes were between 15 and 20 years old. During 2009, 205 15- to 20-year-old motorcycle riders were killed, and an additional 5,000 were injured. In 2009, 33 percent of the young drivers (15 to 20 years old) who were killed in crashes had a BAC of .01 g/dL or higher. NHTSA estimates that minimum-drinking-age laws have saved 27,677 lives since 1975. (Author/publisher)
Abstract