摘要: |
There were 202.8 million licensed drivers in the United States in 2006. Young drivers, between 15 and 20 years old, accounted for 6.4 percent (13.0 million) of the total, a 7.2-percent increase from the 12.1 million young drivers in 1996. In 2006, 7,463 15- to 20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes an 8-percent decrease from the 8,074 involved in 1996. Driver fatalities for this age group increased by 3 percent between 1996 and 2006. For young males, driver fatalities rose by 5 percent, compared with a 3-percent decrease for young females (Table 1). Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds (based on 2004 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics). In 2006, 3,490 15- to 20-year-old drivers were killed and an additional 272,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes. |