Figures have revealed across America, 13,135 people died in a crash involving a teen driver between 2019-2023.
Over 30% of those deaths occurred during the 100 deadliest days between Memorial Day and Labor Day, according to a AAA review of crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
On average, eight people are killed per day in teen-involved driving crashes in the summer, compared to seven per day during the rest of the year.
Now the AAA is urging parents to model safe driving behavior and talk with their teens about buckling up, obeying speed limits, and putting phones away.
“Summer months are particularly dangerous as more young drivers hit the road during school breaks with many logging more unsupervised driving time than usual,” said Jake Nelson, Director of Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research at AAA.
“We encourage families to take advantage of AAA resources like our driver education classes and parent-teen safe driving agreements to help set clear expectations for driving privileges.”
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety also has new research highlighting the life-saving potential of smartphone-blocking technology and is encouraging teens to use “do not disturb” features on their phones to silence distractions while driving.
