Most teenagers here in Louisiana and across the country look forward to the day they get their driver’s licenses. Sadly, for numerous teens, being behind the wheel of a car could mean a death sentence for the driver and their friends. It turns out that the leading cause of death for teens in the United States is car crashes, and many suffer a variety of injuries.
In 2013, emergency rooms treated approximately 243,243 teens for injuries suffered in car accidents. Another 2,163 died that same year. Each day that year, an average of six teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 died in crashes.
Even though people between the ages of 15 and 24 represent only about 14 percent of the country’s population, they account for a significant portion of the total dollars spent on car accident injuries each year. Men in that age range account for approximately $19 billion (30 percent), and women within that range account for around $7 billion (28 percent). Drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are three times more likely to become involved in a fatal crash than any other age group per mile driven, with men being more at risk than women. These statistics include teens here in Louisiana.
The lives of those involved in these fatal car crashes are often altered forever. In addition to losing family members and suffering potentially disabling injuries, there are medical expenses, lost wages and other damages that go along with these tragedies. Victims of teenage drivers retain the right to file personal injury or wrongful death claims in an effort to receive restitution for the financial losses they are currently sustaining and could sustain in the future.
Source: cdc.gov, “Teen Drivers: Get the Facts“, Oct. 7, 2016
