There were 190.6 million licensed drivers in the USA in 2000 (2001 data not available). Young drivers, between 15 and 20 years old, accounted for 6.8% (12.9 million) of the total, a 3.2% increase from the 12.5 million young drivers in 1990. This traffic safety fact sheet contains statistics on the young driver involvement in traffic crashes in 2001 (including previous years). In 2001, 8,137 15- to 20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes, a 1% decrease from the 8,220 involved in 1991. Driver fatalities for this age group decreased by 1% between 1991 and 2001. For young males, driver fatalities dropped by 3%, compared with a 15% increase for young females. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds (based on 1998 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics). In 2001, 3,608 drivers 15 to 20 years old were killed, and an additional 337,000 were injured, in motor vehicle crashes. In 2001, 14% (8,137) of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes (57,480) were young drivers 15 to 20 years old, and 17% (1,862,000) of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes (11,173,000) were young drivers.
Samenvatting