Take the Wheel Teen Driving

Driving Stats/Tips

Source: 2009 Crash Report produced by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
By age group in 2009:

  • Age 15 were involved in 343 crashes; with 11 killed
  • Age 16 were involved in 3,518 crashes; with 23 killed
  • Age 17 were involved in 6,118 crashes; with 39killed
  • Age 18 were involved in 9,560 crashes; with 39 killed
  • Age 19 were involved in 9,943 crashes; with 41 killed

The numbers really add up, don’t they? Florida teens had 29,482 crashes last year that left 153 dead.

Was one of them your friend or classmate?


Take charge when you take the wheel.  Be alive at 25.
Did you know?  Traffic crashes are the leading cause of teen fatalities, accounting for 44% of teen deaths in the U.S.

  • Teen drivers are involved in fatal crashes at more than twice the rate of all others
  • The first year for a newly licensed teenage driver is the most dangerous, with more than one in five involved in crashes
  • Each year nearly 6,000 teens are killed in vehicular accidents; more than 3,800 are drivers age 15-20
  • Annually, more than 326,000 teen drivers are seriously injured --some are left paralyzed for life
  • 134 motorists under age 17 were killed in Florida in 2008; 83 (62%) were not wearing safety belts; 56 of these were ejected from the vehicle
  • More than half the deaths occurred on the weekend between Friday and Sunday; 41% occurred at night between 9:00pm and 6:00am
  • Exceeding the posted speed limit or driving at an unsafe speed is the most common error in fatal teenage accidents
  • More than 1,000 young drivers lose their lives each year in crashes because of an impaired driver (themselves or someone else)
  • Although teen drivers represent only about 7% of the nations’ licensed drivers, they are involved in nearly 15% of all fatal crashes

Research shows the leading cause of teen driver accidents involve one or a combination of the following factors:

  • Lack of awareness about the consequences of risk-taking behavior
  • Driver error or inexperience with complexities of driving conditions
  • Peers or other distractions in vehicle with the teen driver
  • Driving as a social activity, not taken seriously
  • Impaired or drowsy driving, especially at night
  • Speeding or driving in unsafe conditions

As a teen driver or passenger, you can greatly reduce your risk by taking charge of your own actions or the situation. Make the commitment to learn good driving skills and/or change your driving behavior to a positive!  This commitment to protecting yourself just makes good  sense!

Resource documents on statistics and research:

Driving safety tips -- odds and ends:

Recent News