The number of people killed on U.S. highways fell in 2011 for the sixth straight year, the longest streak of declines in the nation’s history, Bloomberg reports.
Crash fatalities are down 1.7 percent to 32,310 from a year earlier, NHTSA data shows. How can you counteract this alarming trend? Pile young people in the car.
A new report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows that the likelihood of a 16- or 17-year-old driver being killed in a crash increases with each additional young passenger in the vehicle.
- One passenger younger than 21 (and no older passengers): 44 percent riskier
- Two passengers younger than 21 (and no older passengers): 100 percent riskier.
- Three or more passengers younger than 21 (and no older passengers): 300 percent riskier.
Put one passenger aged 35 or older in the car, and a teen driver’s risk of death goes down by 62 percent.