Spotlight on Highway Safety
See All Spotlights on Highway Safety
Teenage Driver Fatalities by State:
2011 Preliminary Data
Published February 2012
In late 2011, GHSA asked states to provide their preliminary teen driver fatality data for the first six months of that year. Preliminary data was supplied by all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This report analyzes the data provided.
Learn More About Teen Driver Safety
Protecting Teen Drivers: A Guidebook for States Published 2010
The report indicates that the number of 16- and 17-year-old driver deaths in passenger vehicles increased from 190 to 211 (11 percent) between the first six months of 2010 and the first six months of 2011.
Assuming the last half of the year saw a similar pattern, this will mark the first increase in driver deaths for this age group after eight straight years of declines.
Potential explanations for the increase include the benefit of state Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws leveling off (most have been in place for some time) as well as improving economic conditions leading to more teens on the road.
- Teenage Driver Fatalities by State:
2011 Preliminary Data
[449 KB, 16 pgs.] - News Release: New Study: Teen Driver Deaths Increase in 2011 (Feb. 16, 2012)