Study: Utah In Top 10 Most Dangerous States For Young Drivers

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah is one of the Top 10 most dangerous states for drivers aged 15 – 20, according to a new study.

The Beehive State came it at No. 9 on safety.com’s list.

“Utah bans full privilege nighttime driving for young or novice drivers until they’re 17 years old, and restricts full privilege daytime driving for young or novice drivers until the age of 16 years and 6 months,” according to the study. “Even with those restrictions in place, and a complete ban on texting and cell phone use for novice drivers, Utah still has a problem with traffic fatalities involving young drivers.”

Using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the study determined the most dangerous states for young drivers based on states’ traffic fatalities.

“In Utah, 16.1% of serious vehicle crashes where a fatality occurred involved young drivers,” according to a statement from safety.com. “When factoring in that 9.31% of the population of Utah was between the ages of 15-20, this places the state among the most dangerous for young drivers.”

According to the NHTSA, there were 1,830 young drivers nationwide who died in crashes in 2017. That number was down 4% from 2016.

The safety.com study cites numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noting that there were 292,742 young drivers treated in emergency rooms after vehicle crashes.

“That breaks down to about six teens ages 16 to 19 dying each day in motor vehicle crashes with hundreds more injured,” according to the article.

Rhode Island topped the list for most dangerous state, with 18.1% of traffic fatalities involving young drivers. In the No. 2 spot is Iowa, followed by New Hampshire, Mississippi, Missouri, Colorado, and Wisconsin. Nebraska came it at No. 10 with 14.9% fatalities.

At No. 50 on the list is Delaware, which reports just 5% of traffic fatalities involving drivers aged 15 – 20.