Why is AAA recommending that states impose passenger restrictions on teen drivers?
• As this study shows, limiting the number of teens in vehicles driven by teens will reduce the number of people injured and killed in teen-related crashes. • Research shows that having a teenage passenger increases the risk of a teen driver being in a fatal crash. The risk increases with additional teen passengers. • Passenger restrictions may be inconvenient for parents and teens, but they are effective at saving teen lives. Are all of these crashes the teen’s fault? • It is difficult to assign specific fault in any motor vehicle crash – meaning a particular action caused the crash – and this report does not assign fault. But, we know that teens have the highest number of deaths per vehicle mile traveled of any age group and when they crash, other people are also injured and killed. Teen drivers’ crash risk is largely due to inexperience and poor decision making (immaturity). • The fault lies in the system that, in too many states, lets teens drive without the experience they need, a
