When teenage drivers first get their licenses, they may feel eager to take their friends along for the ride. However, research shows that, when teenage drivers have teen passengers in their cars and find themselves involved in a crash, the risk of death rises for everyone involved.
According to AAA Newsroom, when teen drivers have passengers between 13 and 18 in their vehicles and get into crashes, the presence of the young passenger raises the risk of death for everyone involved by 51%.
Teen driver, teen passenger statistics
The presence of the teen passenger raises fatality risks by 45% for the teenager driving the vehicle with young passengers in it. However, the risks are even more notable for those involved in the crash who are riding in other cars. The risk of other drivers and passengers dying in a crash caused by a teen motorist increases by 56% when that teen driver has a teenage passenger present.
Teen driver, older passenger statistics
Studies show that it is the presence of the teenage passenger, and not any passenger, that inflates fatality risks. When teenage motorists have passengers riding with them who are 35 or older, the presence of the passenger actually decreases death risks. In this scenario, the risks of everyone dying in a teen driver-involved crash decrease by 8%.
While teens who drive with teenage passengers enhance fatality risks for themselves and other drivers and passengers on the roadway, they also inflate death risks for any cyclists and pedestrians involved in the wreck.