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Every two miles, the average driver makes four hundred observations, forty decisions, and one mistake. Once every five hundred miles, one of those mistakes leads to a near-collision. Those are the average drivers. Beginning teen drivers are arguably the worst drivers on the road, with the least mental and emotional maturity and without benefit of extended training or experience.
Consider these sobering statistics:
- Nearly 80 out of 100 new drivers get into a crash within the first three years of learning to drive.
- 16-year-olds are 20 times more likely than an adult to die in an automobile crash, and 3 times more likely than an 18 or 19 year old.
- Every single day, 19 people 15 to 20 years old are killed and over 1,800 are injured in vehicle crashes.
- For every traffic violation on a parent's record there is a 13% increase in their teen's violations.
- For every million miles driven, teens are involved in four times as many wrecks as all other drivers combined.
- Cars with two or more teens are four times more likely to crash than those with single drivers.
Think the United States is a world leader in traffic safety? Think again. Eddie Wren, founder of Drive and Stay Alive, Inc., has compiled from various sources the following data on traffic deaths for 52 countries throughout the world, as of late 2005:
| Safest Countries |
Rank |
Country |
Death Rate Per
100,000 Population |
1. |
Malta |
3.25 |
2. |
Netherlands |
4.93 |
3. |
Sweden |
5.33 |
4. |
United Kingdom |
5.34 |
5. |
Norway |
5.59 |
6. |
Japan |
5.76 |
7. |
Denmark |
6.83 |
8. |
Switzerland |
6.85 |
9. |
Germany |
7.09 |
10. |
Finland |
7.21 |
The U.S. rank out of 52? Number 40, with 14.53 traffic deaths per 100,000 people! |
| Deadliest States for Driving |
| |
State |
Population |
Traffic Deaths |
Death Rate per 100,000 Population |
1. |
Wyoming |
500,890 |
165 |
33 |
2. |
Mississippi |
2,883,837 |
871 |
30 |
3. |
Montana |
912,679 |
262 |
29 |
4. |
South Dakota |
763,827 |
203 |
27 |
| The Most Traffic Congested Cities |
1. |
Los Angeles, CA |
2. |
San Francisco, CA |
3. |
Denver, CO |
4. |
Miami, FL |
5. |
Phoenix, AZ |
6. |
Chicago, IL |
7. |
San Jose, CA |
8. |
Washington, DC |
9. |
Portland, OR |
10. |
Boston, MA |
| Cities with the Highest Vehicle Theft Rates |
1. |
Phoenix, AZ |
2. |
Fresno, CA |
3. |
Modesto, CA |
4. |
Stockton-Lodi, CA |
5. |
Las Vegas, NV |
6. |
Miami, FL |
7. |
Sacramento, CA |
8. |
Oakland, CA |
9. |
Seattle, WA |
10. |
Tacoma, WA |
|
courtesy CNN and Money magazine |
Speeding is a contributing factor in fully one-third of all fatal crashes. Here's how to graphically demonstrate to your teen the trade-off of saving time through faster driving versus the risk of that quicker trip being their last. For every 10 miles per hour over 50 mph, the risk of their being killed in a crash doubles.
| The Time of Your Life |
MPH |
Travel Time |
Time Saved |
Increased Risk |
50 |
12 |
- |
-X |
55 |
10 min., 54 seconds |
1 min., 6 seconds |
1.5X |
60 |
10 minutes |
2 minutes |
2X |
70 |
8 min., 34 seconds |
3 min., 26 seconds |
4X |
80 |
7 min., 30 seconds |
4 min., 30 seconds |
8X |
85 |
7 min., 3 seconds |
4 min., 57 seconds |
12X |
Courtesy National Safety Council Defensive Driving Course |
The GMAC Insurance National Driver's Test found that nearly 20 million Americans would fail a state driver’s test if they had to take one today. Recent statistics reveal the best and worst states for test scores:
| Top Five |
1. |
Oregon |
2. |
Washington |
3. |
Iowa |
4. |
Idaho |
5. |
Wyoming |
| Bottom Five |
1. |
Rhode Island |
2. |
Massachusetts |
3. |
New Jersey |
4. |
New York |
5. |
Washington, D.C. |
For what it's worth, Insurance.com has compiled the following deadliest times to drive:
| 10 Deadliest Days of the Year to Drive |
1. |
July 4 |
2. |
July 3 |
3. |
December 23 |
4. |
August 3 |
5. |
January 1 |
6. |
August 6 |
7. |
August 4 |
8. |
August 12 |
9. |
July 2 |
10. |
September 2 |
| Deadliest Days of the Week to Drive |
1. |
Saturday |
2. |
Friday |
3. |
Thursday |
4. |
Wednesday |
5. |
Monday |
6. |
Tuesday |
7. |
Sunday |
| Deadliest Time of Day to Drive |
1. |
3:00 to 6:00 p.m. |
2. |
6:00 to 9:00 p.m. |
3. |
9:00 to midnight |
4. |
Noon - 3:00 p.m. |
5. |
Midnight-3:00 a.m. |
| The Relative Odds |
| Odds you will be killed in an airplane crash : 1 in 4,600,000 |
| Odds you will die in a fire: 1 in 40,000 |
| Odds you will die in a car crash : 1 in 125 |
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