The number of accidents causing death or serious injury to young Indiana drivers has decreased in the last half of the 2000s, according to a recent report from the Indiana Department of Motor Vehicles. However, traffic accidents in Indianapolis still remain one of the leading causes of death for Indiana teens, making preventing these accidents an important goal for local communities and state safety officials.
Young drivers, according to the Indiana traffic safety report, are defined as drivers between ages 15 and 19. These drivers are just learning to drive or have only had a license for a short period of time, which means they are low on experience. In recent years, using cell phones and other electronic devices has become second nature to teens, many of whom must be reminded that Indiana and other states have made certain types of cell phone use while driving illegal, and that using cell phones while driving is always a risk.
The number of crashes involving young drivers in Indiana decreased about 5.7 percent between 2005 and 2009. The percentage of crashes that claimed a life decreased even more, from 75 percent in 2005 to 48 percent in 2009, a much larger decrease than the other Great Lakes states in the same time period. Today, about 1 in every 1,000 young drivers involved in an Indiana crash suffers a fatal injury – a lower number than in the past, but still too high for any family who loses a loved one.
