You didn't think teenager's are deadly?
Crime stats support the fact that feral teenagers can be deadly, but how about the domesticated variety? Thanks to a recent AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study, we can make an educated guess at the answer to that question.
For generations, teenagers have been the most dangerous drivers on the road, crashing almost four times as often as older drivers. A study released Tuesday quantifies, for the first time in a decade, how their risk of a fatal crash multiplies when they have other teenagers in the car. According to the AAA study:
A 16 or 17-year-old driver’s fatality risk:
Increases 44 percent when carrying one passenger younger than 21 (and no older passengers)
Doubles [increases 100 percent] when carrying two passengers younger than 21 (and no older passengers)
Quadruples [increases 400 percent] when carrying three or more passengers younger than 21 (and no older passengers)
This report makes me think of the July 2009 incident where 5 teens died instantly when they sped around stopped traffic at a crossing gate and were met by an Amtrak locomotive. Guess who wins all of those encounters...
-fl