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Tennessee Leads Nation In Teen Driver Fatalities

379 views · Published 27 February 2013 · 2:31 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2013 · News & Politics

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by Alyssa Spirato A new government study says more teens are dying on roadways than ever before. Preliminary numbers from the Governor's Highway Safety Administration took all 50 states and compared teen crash data from 2011 and 2012. What they found was staggering. The deaths involving 16 and 17-year-old drivers shot up, reversing a decades-long trend.15-year-old Casey Jennings knows all too well the dangers on the roadways.I pay more attention to when I'm driving and my parents talk to me and tell me stories and help me understand what's right and whats wrong, says Jennings.It's something she needs to know since she'll be getting her drivers license next week. Which is you'll never find her texting and driving.It scares me I don't want anyone to run into me or anything so I'm just worried. I pay attention to them I'm like, that's just so stupid, says Jennings.No matter what the age, everyone makes mistakes on the road. Senior Instructor Roger Thompson with Haman's New Drivers says little mistakes may be to blame for rising teen fatalities. The survey says nationally, more than one hundred 16-year-olds died between January and June of last year. That's compared to 86 drivers during that same time, the year before. In Tennessee alone six teens died in 2011. Last year there were sixteen. That's a nineteen percent increase.The difference between flat lands and the mountains I would say we have more danger that could immediately show itself with the fog and some other parts. The critical part is what would in fact begin to change that equation, says Thompson.An Equation that scares Stephanie Barclay. Her son is sixteen and a new driver.He is very ready to hit the road but there's just so many things to learn. The most important thing I always tell him to look out for the other driver. That's basically what you're doing when you're driving, says Barclay.

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