Gender and Age Differences among Teen Drivers in Fatal Crashes.

Gender and Age Differences among Teen Drivers in Fatal Crashes. Ann Adv Automot Med. 2012;56:97-106 Authors: Swedler DI, Bowman SM, Baker SP Abstract To identify age and gender differences among teen drivers in fatal crashes, we analyzed FARS data for 14,026crashes during 2007-2009. Compared with female teenagers, crashes of male teenagers were significantly more likely to involve BACs of 0.08% or more (21% vs. 12%), speeding (38% vs. 25%), reckless driving (17% vs. 14%), night driving (41% vs. 36%) and felony crashes (hit-and-run, homicide, or manslaughter) (8% vs. 6%) (all χ(2) p<0.001). Conversely, crashes of female teenagers were more likely to involve right angle ("t-bone") crashes (23% vs. 17%). Some crash characteristics associated with males and known to play a major role in crash causation also are more common in the youngest teenagers; for example, crashes of drivers age 15 or 16 were more likely than crashes of older teens to involve speeding or reckless driving. Crashes of drivers with BACs of 0.08% or higher increased with age in both genders. Some age effects differed by gender: for example, the proportion of crashes of female teens that involved speeding dropped from 38% to 22% between ages 15 and 19, while for males about 38% of crashes at each age involved speeding. The gender and age differences observed in teen drivers suggest opportunities for targeted driver training - for example, simulator training modules ...
Source: Annals of Advances in Automotive Medicine - Category: Global & Universal Tags: Ann Adv Automot Med Source Type: research