State Farm® Safe Neighbors - Auto Safety

Driving: Through the Eyes of Teens

Two years ago, the foremost experts in child occupant safety and State Farm began to take a closer look at the number one killer of teens - automobile crashes.  We leveraged the success of Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS) and established the Young Driver Research Initiative (YDRI), which continues State Farm’s alliance with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).  The goal: to develop effective, evidence-based interventions aimed at saving young lives.

Over 5,600 students participated in the survey
To effectively change behavior, it was important to take a closer look at what happens in teen-driven vehicles.  To accomplish this, State Farm and CHOP conducted the National Young Driver Survey.  Responses were collected from 68 high schools involving more than 5,600 students from across the country.

Some examples of the preliminary findings:

Findings from the National Teen Driver Survey:

• 75% of teens see peers driving fatigued.
• 94% see passenger behavior that distracts the driver.
• 20% of 11th graders report being in a crash as a driver in the past year.

The survey also revealed the important role that the teens see for their parents:

• 66% say that they care about their parents’ opinion on cell phone use while driving.
• 56% of them rely on parents to learn how to drive.
• 39% of their parents provide total financial responsibility for their driving.

To print or view a copy of the report visit www.chop.edu/youngdrivers