Teen Driving Statistics: Alcohol Influences & Distractions

Alcohol Influences on Teen Driving

• Drinking and driving among teens in high school have gone down by 54% since 1991. Still, high school teens drive after drinking about 2.4 million times a month.
• One in 10 teens in high school drinks and drives. Don’t make any assumptions that your teen doesn’t drink and drive.  Take the time to confirm it and make sure they understand the dangers and risks associated with drinking and driving.
• 85% of teens in high school who report drinking and driving in the past month also say they binge drank.
• Young drivers (ages 16-20) are 17 times more likely to die in a crash when they have a blood alcohol concentration of .08% than when they have not been drinking.
• Nearly one million high school teens drank alcohol and got behind the wheel in 2011.
• Teen drivers are 3 times more likely than more experienced drivers to be in a fatal crash.
• 1 in 5 teen drivers involved in fatal crashes had some alcohol in their system in 2010. Most of these drivers (81%) had BACs* higher than the legal limit for adults.

Source:  Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Common Distractions for Teen Drivers

The most common forms of distraction leading up to a crash by a teen driver include:

• Interacting with one or more passengers: 15% of crashes.
• Cell phone use: 12% of crashes.
• Looking at something in the vehicle: 10% of crashes.
• Looking at something outside the vehicle: 9% of crashes.
• Singing/moving to music: 8% of crashes.
• Grooming: 6% of crashes.
• Reaching for an object: 6% of crashes.

Source:  AAA