Car Accident Crash is Leading Cause of Teen Death

A new government report estimates that 35% of teen deaths every year are caused by a car accident crash, making it the leading cause of teen death in the U.S. by a wide margin.

Arialdi M. Miniño, a statistician at the U.S. Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, compiled a report that broke down the causes of death for teens from 1999 through 2006. The report was released by CDC last month.

Miniño found that an average of 16,375 teenagers from ages 12 through 19 die each year, on average, nearly half of them from accidents. Two-thirds of those accidental deaths, 35% of the total teen deaths, occurred due to a car crash. The next highest ranking cause of death was homicide.

Fortunately, teen deaths account for only about 1% of fatalities nationwide each year. The numbers indicate that older teen males are three times more likely to die than older teen females, and older teens overall are at a higher risk of death than younger ones.

“Starting at age 12 and ending at 19 years, the death rate among teenage males increases 32 percent on average for every additional year of age,” Miniño found. “For females, on the other hand, the death rate increases on average 19.5 percent for every additional year of age.”

In my experience as a Maryland car accident lawyer, the problem may be compounded by the fact that serious car crashes involving teens often involve a number of people in the same vehicle. The reckless actions of a teen driver can not only pose a risk to their own health, but also may cause personal injury or death for other occupants of the vehicle or for those in other cars on the road.