Save Teen Lives

STATISTICS

Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of injury and death for teenagers between the ages of 16 to 19, and the problem has reached a crisis level in Douglas County. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has identified that Douglas County leads the metro area in crash rates. In evaluating the crash rates from 1992-1996 for Douglas, Adams, Denver, Boulder, and Arapahoe counties, CDOT found that the rate in Douglas County (15.8) is more than three times higher than Arapahoe County (5.1) which had the lowest rate of the five county areas.

In addition, CDOT found that 16 year olds were 3.6 times more likely to be involved in a crash, and had almost a 30% greater risk of dying in a crash than their parents. According to figures recently released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Colorado's 16 year olds had a higher fatality rate than the national average and that the lack of experience was the major factor.

In further study of this issue, the Douglas County Sheriff found that the number one cause of teen accidents in Douglas County in 2001 was inexperience!

16 years of age - 72%

17 year of age - 50%

18 year of age - 28%

19 year of age - 15%