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Drug Information

Teen Driving Facts

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds.1 Drugs, alcohol, and driver distractions increase teens’ crash risks. As teens take to the roads, parents can take action by talking about the dangers of drunk, drugged, and distracted driving.

Teens are at risk—both from driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and from riding with drivers who are under the influence.

  • Thirteen percent of high school seniors reported driving under the influence of marijuana in the prior two weeks, a number nearly equivalent to those who reported driving under the influence of alcohol (14%),2 despite higher prevalence of alcohol consumption among teens.3
  • High school students are more likely to drink, smoke cigarettes, and smoke marijuana after earning their driver’s license.4
  • In a comprehensive study on unsafe driving by high school students, 30 percent of seniors reported driving after drinking heavily or using drugs, or riding in a car whose driver had been drinking heavily or using drugs, at least once in the prior two weeks.5
  • Next to marijuana, prescription drugs are the most commonly abused illicit drug by teens.6 The most commonly abused prescription drugs act on systems in the brain that can lead to impaired driving ability, making them harmful to young drivers when abused and mixed with alcohol or other illicit drugs.7

Teen drivers admit to engaging in risky driving behaviors, which are more likely to cause crashes.

  • Passengers can create many distractions for a new driver. Almost half (48%) of teens report seeing passengers drink alcohol and over one-third (38%) report seeing passengers smoke marijuana.8
  • According to a recent survey, 36 percent of teens who own cell phones admit to texting while driving.9
  • Even with a parent in the car, teens engage in bad driving choices, such as speeding (almost 50% of the time), talking on their cell phones while driving (about 20% of the time), and eating or drinking while driving (almost 20% of the time).10

Parents are the most important influence on their teen when it comes to risky behaviors, including substance abuse and driving.

  • Despite what most parents think, teens value their advice. More than half of teens of all ages (57%) say that family, rather than friends or school, is the most important thing in their lives right now.11
  • Teens who report having conversations with their parents about alcohol and drug use are more likely to stay drug-free, compared to teens who do not talk about substance abuse with their parents.12
  • Teens whose parents enforce penalties for driving law infractions are more likely than teens whose parents do not enforce penalties to wear their safety belts (89% vs. 74%); require their passengers to buckle up (82% vs. 64%); obey stop signs (91% vs. 60%); and use turn signals (89% vs. 76%).13

References

1 U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Traffic Safety Facts: Young Drivers,” 2007.
http://www.dtadadap.com/PDF/STATS/2007/2007-TSF-YoungDrivers.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
2 O’Malley P. and Johnston L. Unsafe driving by American high school seniors, 2001-2006. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs; 68(6):834-42, November 2007.
http://druggeddriving.org/duid/monitoring_druggeddriving01-6.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
3 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admistration (SAMHSA), 2008.
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k7nsduh/2k7Results.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
4 McCarthy D.M and Brown S.A. Changes in alcohol involvement, cognitions and drinking and driving behavior for youth after they obtain a driver’s license.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol; 65: 289-296, May 2004.
http://www.jsad.com/jsad/article/Changes_in_Alcohol_Involvement_Cognitions_and_Drinking_and_Driving_Behavio/1062.html. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
5 O’Malley P. and Johnston L. Unsafe driving by American high school seniors, 2001-2006. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs; 68(6):834-42, November 2007.
http://druggeddriving.org/duid/monitoring_druggeddriving01-6.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
6 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, SAMHSA, 2008. Table 8.6B
http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/tabs/Sect8peTabs1to42.htm#Tab8.6B. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
7 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) InfoFacts: Drugged Driving. April 2008.
http://www.nida.nih.gov/PDF/Infofacts/driving08.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
8 The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm, “Driving: Through the Eyes of Teens National Teen Driver Survey,” January 2007.
http://opi.mt.gov/pdf/DriverEd/RR/07ThruTheEyesofTeens.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
9 Nationwide Insurance, “DWD (Driving While Distracted) Survey.” May 19, 2008. Page 3.
http://www.nationwide.com/pdf/dwd-2008-survey-results.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
10 Students Against Destructive Decisions and Liberty Mutual Group, “Teens Today,” 2006. Page 3.
http://www.sadd.org/teenstoday/teenstodaypdfs/parents.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
11 The TRU Study, TRU, Fall ’06 Wave.
12 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Illicit Drug Use, September 2008. Page 68.
http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k7nsduh/2k7Results.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.
13 Students Against Destructive Decisions and Liberty Mutual Group, “Summer Driving,” 2007. Page 2.
http://www.sadd.org/teenstoday/teenstodaypdfs/TeenSummerDriving07.pdf. Thank you for visiting theantidrug.com. You are now leaving the site. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is not responsible for the content or information gathering practices of other websites you are linking to.