Treating teen driving risk as health concern

Editorial

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of teen deaths in the U.S., and research shows that more than 75 percent of those crashes are caused by novice driver error.

That’s not breaking news. Both statistics and real life point to the dangers in putting inexperienced, easily distracted adolescents with a false sense of invincibility behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2019, almost 2,400 teens in the United States aged 13 to 19 were killed, and about 258,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes in 2019.

That means that every day, about seven teens died due to motor vehicle crashes, and hundreds more were injured.

In addition, motor vehicle crash deaths among teens 15 to 19 years of age resulted in about $4.8 billion in medical and work loss costs for crashes that occurred in 2018.

Data shows that the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among teens aged 16 to 19 than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers in this age group are nearly three times as likely as drivers aged 20 or older to be in a fatal crash.

High school assemblies to raise awareness, laws to enforce restrictions on teen drivers and encouragement to parents and educators to talk to adolescents about driver safety are all well-worn practices. But nothing has worked to make teens crash-proof.

Nearly everyone knows of a teen killed or seriously injured in a car crash, and yet the tragedy of teen driving deaths remains prevalent.

There are, however, some new developments being reported in our region to address teen driving safety and reduce risk using data and technology. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is treating teen driving risk as a heath concern — which it is — and incorporating an evaluation program into teen’s wellness exams.

The CHOP Center for Injury Research and Prevention has been working to analyze the driving skills of teens and related data on the frequency and severity of motor vehicle crashes involving teens behind the wheel. Rather than write off teen behaviors as inevitable, the hospital’s research foundation views adolescent driving behavior through the lens of research.

The research has found that safety issues fall in at least one of several categories:

• teen drivers’ skill acquisition and training,

• compliance with and enforcement of Graduated Driver Licensing provisions, and

• improving teen driving behaviors.

“Crashes involving teen drivers are caused by multiple factors and require comprehensive solutions,” states the CIRP post on CHOP’s website. “Working to develop these solutions through teen driver safety research is equally complex, involving many different disciplines and methods. Our Teen Driving Safety Research team employs comprehensive, rigorous methods to both analyze factors associated with teen crashes and to develop interventions to change behaviors that contribute to these crashes. We believe that by understanding predictors of teen driver crashes, we can help prevent them.”

The research has led to the development of a virtual driving assessment tool (VDA) that CHOP is using at primary care locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including one in Flourtown, Montgomery County. The assessment tool is a self-guided software program that measures more than 100 skill metrics as drivers are exposed to the most serious crash scenarios in a 15-minute “drive around town.”

At the end of the virtual driving assessment, teens and their families receive feedback on their crash-avoidance skills, including tips to improve and links to videos to develop specific driving skills.

Finding ways to improve safety among teen drivers has plagued public safety experts. Laws and public policies address Graduated Driver Licensing, restrictions on number of passengers, public awareness campaigns against texting and DUIs, and programs to involve adults in better training and rule-setting for teen drivers.

But the basic lack of driver experience and skill — a factor in the majority of teen crashes, research shows — is harder to address. CHOP’s efforts to make driver skill assessment a part of a teen’s health care is an innovative approach that deserves attention and participation.

If even one teen’s life is saved, this program will have proven its worth.