CARS OWNED AND DRIVEN BY TEENAGERS

In an effort to analyse the teenage crash problem, a survey was made of 50,000 students in 75 high schools in 7 areas of the country. The survey elecited descriptive summaries of teenagers' transportation needs, driving behavior, attitudes, and lifestyles. The results of the study indicate that the majority of licensed high school students have cars that they consider their own, and ownership is associated with more driving, more crashes, and poorer academic performance among males. Also, the cars they drive tend to be smaller and older than cars driven by the general population. Thus there is a perverse mismatch in which teenagers who are at the highest risk of crash-related injury, have even less protection against injury than other segments of the population. It is noted that economic and sociocultural factors other than considerations about injuries influence car purchase decisions. The most effective measures for dealing with the consequences of teenage driving currently available are those that limit the amount and type of their driving exposure (curfews; older licensing age, older alcohol laws). Mandatory seat belt use laws also, can provide additional protection. In addition, air bags and automatic seat belts can increase the protection of teenagers in crashes.

• Record URL:
  • https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015012659853?urlappend=%3Bseq=191
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/7938948
• Corporate Authors:

  Eno Transportation Foundation

  1250 I Street, NW, Suite 750
  Washington, DC  United States  20005
• Authors:
  • Williams, A F
  • Preuser, D F
  • LUND, A K
  • Rasmussen, S J
• Publication Date: 1987-4

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 177-188
• Serial:
  • Transportation Quarterly
  • Volume: 41
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Eno Transportation Foundation
  • ISSN: 0278-9434

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Automobile ownership; Behavior; Compact automobiles; Data collection; Driver licensing; Drivers; Laws; Legal drinking age; Life styles; Manual safety belts; Passive restraint systems; Students; Surveys; Teenage drivers; Travel demand
• Old TRIS Terms: Small car
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00471991
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 31 1987 12:00AM