Despite large gains in auto safety technology, such as anti-lock braking systems and air bags, young drivers are not immune to crashes. In fact, evidence indicates in their first two to three years of driving, teens are three to four times more likely to be involved in a crash than the driving population at large–a statistic that has changed little in the past 15 years.

On a national basis, nearly 3,500 teen drivers lost their lives in 2006 traffic crashes, and an estimated 272,000 teens were injured, with thousands of them paralyzed or otherwise unable to resume the life they were living. The emotional costs are staggering, and the financial costs are equally alarming. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calculated that the lifetime cost to society for each fatality is more than $977,000, and those not directly involved in crashes pay for nearly three-quarters of all crash costs, primarily through insurance premiums, taxes and travel delay.

Unfortunately, Arkansas has contributed vastly to these shocking statistics. In fact, 465 teens age 15–20 were killed in crashes on state roads from 2003–2007. Another 57,942 teens were injured in wrecks in the same five-year time period.

When the number of deaths and injuries are combined and analyzed, 32 young people were killed or injured every day in Arkansas traffic crashes during this five-year period, more than one every hour.

Making matters worse is that teen drivers aren’t the only ones who perish in these crashes. While 93 teen drivers died in crashes in 2007 in Arkansas, another 44 people who were riding with them or in other cars also were killed, paying the price for the teens’ inexperience. In addition, about 8,800 teens were injured in crashes during 2007. But in those same crashes, a total of 15,600 people were injured including the teens themselves as well as their passengers, occupants of other cars and pedestrians.

Sadly, nearly one out of every five traffic fatalities in the state from 2002–2006 occurred in crashes involving teenage drivers. As these numbers show, the issue of teen driver safety isn’t just a problem that affects only teens. Teen crashes exact a large toll on many other drivers on Arkansas’s roads.

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