Youth are still over represented in fatal crashes compared to the older population.
The rate of involvement is greater for youth for both alcohol and non alcohol related crashes based on total population, on the licensed driver population and miles driven. After an eleven year decrease in the youth population from 1982, this population has been increasing since 1993. Based on these trends, the numbers will go up unless we intervene. Highway crashes involving young people are doubly tragic because, in most, cases they result from lack of experience and poor judgement. The states in Region I have been very active with highway safety programs for youth, including graduated driver licensing laws and Zero Tolerance for drinking and driving.