Study: Nighttime driver biggest threat to teen drivers

Posted by Benji Riggins on May 11, 2010 under Safety | Be the First to Comment

Driving after dark poses the largest risk to teenage drivers and is more likely to result in death than drinking, speeding or not wearing a seat belt, according to a nation-wide 10 year study of highway fatalities conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute.

Bernie Fette, one of the study’s authors said, “Everything points in the same direction for this age group, and that is to the use of cell phones behind the wheel. Whenever you combine the nighttime danger and the cell phone dangers with inexperience, you have created a perfect storm.”

The study used federal traffic data from 1999 to 2008, a period in which the overall number of traffic deaths declined nationwide.

The study found that among drivers aged 20 and older, alcohol was a major factor in the proportional increase in nighttime deaths, but with teen drivers, no corresponding jump in deaths could be attributed to drunken driving.

Studies show that teenagers tend to underestimate the dangers of cell phone use, and are often unaware that nightfall increases risk posed by their inexperience and fatigue.

The study found that nighttime driving poses the number one risk for fatalities among teenage drivers, followed by speed, distractions, failure to wear a seat belt and the use of alcohol.