Statistics


  • Driving is the most dangerous daily activity we can undertake.
    source: www.brake.org.uk

  • Car crashes are the #1 cause of death among American teenagers.
    source U.S. Center for Disease Control

  • The average American makes 50,000 car trips in his/her lifetime. Based on this average, the odds of being killed in a car accident are 1 in 140.
    source: Richard Wilson, Analyzing the Daily Risk of Life, Technology Review

  • The odds of being killed in a plane crash are 1 in 250,000.
    source: National Safety Council

  • In the last 100 years, 2 million Americans died in car crashes.

  • Over the last decade, more than 68,000 teens have died in car crashes, which is 10,000 more than the total number of Americans who died during the Vietnam War.
    source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

  • More than 6,000 teens died in car crashes in the United States in 2003, and more than 500,000 suffered life-altering injuries.
    source: ibid

  • The per-mile fatality rate for 16- to 19-year-olds is four times that of adults.
    source: ibid

  • Teenagers make up only 10% of the U.S. population, but suffer 14% of all vehicular fatalities and 20% of all reported crashes.
    source: ibid

  • In 2002, the estimated economic cost of police-reported crashes (both fatal and non-fatal) involving drivers ages 15 to 20 was $40.8 billion.
    source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  • Nearly half of all fatal car crashes involving teen drivers are single-car crashes. Teens are more likely than any other age group to be involved in a single-car crash.
    source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

  • One-third of all fatal accidents involving teen drivers are caused by speed.
    source: www.DriveHomeSafe.com

  • The accident rate among teen drivers doubles when the number of passengers in the car increases from two to three.
    source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

  • 61% of fatally injured teen passengers were killed in cars driven by teens.
    source: ibid

  • More than 60% of teens killed in car accidents were not wearing seat belts.
    source: ibid

  • 53% of all teen deaths due to car accidents occur during weekends.
    source: ibid

  • 41% of fatal crashes involving teens occur between 9 PM and 6 AM. source: ibid

  • The first 1,000 hours behind the wheel are the most dangerous for teenagers.
    source: ibid

  • The 16-year-old population in the U.S. will increase from 3.5 million to 4 million within the next 5 years. That means there will be 26.1 million 16- to 20-year-old drivers on the nations roads by 2010, a 23% increase over the number of teens driving today.
    source: www.DriveHomeSafe.com

  • In Virginia alone, 92,000 new drivers receive their licenses each year in Virginia - and most of them are teens.
    source: Virginia Deparment of Motor Vehicles

  • In Virginia in fiscal year 2003, there were 144 fatal car crashes involving teenagers. A total of 163 teens - an average of more than three per week - died on Virginia roads in 2003.
    source: ibid