Teenage Males Twice as Likely as Females to Get into a Car Accident | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

The percentage of teenage drivers involved in fatal car accidents has decreased over the years, which is great. However, male drivers should not take comfort in these statistics since it was revealed male teens are twice as likely as female teens to be involved in accidents, according to npr.org.

There were roughly 6,000 fatal car wrecks in 2008 involving teen drivers and nearly three-quarters of them were male. This means car accidents are the primary cause of death of teenage males.

Both male and female teen drivers were more likely to tailgate and speed if there was a teenage male passenger in the front seat, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“There’s just these really striking differences between males and females,” said Anne McCartt of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “You see a discrepancy in terms of all driver errors, including speeding, so that might be following too closely, failure to yield.”

This issue will probably make a great sociological research project as to what exactly motivates a male teenage driver to speed and be more reckless behind the wheel of a car than a young woman. Is it societal influences like movies and television shows which promote guys driving at absurdly high speeds to escape capture from the evil villain (anyone remember Knight Rider? Speed Racer?).

So what does all this data mean? Simple: if you are the parent of a male teenage driver, be concerned and
take action. The numbers don’t lie – male teens are at a higher risk of dying from a fatal car crash. This means, as a parent, you have to be extra vigilant regarding safe driving practices.