Are young drivers over represented in the percentage of fatal crashes in the United States?
Yes. Drivers between 15 and 20 years old accounted for 6.9 percent of the U.S. population in 1998, but 14 percent of all drivers in fatal vehicle crashes. (NHTSA) • What is Virginia’s policy on underage drinking and driving? Virginia has a zero tolerance law for drinking and driving for persons under age 21. Persons under age 21 who drive under the influence can be fined up to $500 and their driver’s license suspended for six months. (Virginia Driver’s Manual) • Have the percentages of teenage drivers fatally injured in vehicle crashes because of drinking changed over time? During the 1980s, the percentages of fatally injured drivers with high BACs (0.10 percent or more) declined among drivers of all ages. Reductions were greatest among young drivers, in part, because of changes in age laws for purchasing alcohol. In 1980, fewer than half of the states had alcohol-purchasing requirements for 21 year-olds, although 49 percent of all fatally injured drivers younger than 21 had high BACs.
