Teen Driving: Drugger? Drunk? Distracted?

Getting a driver's license is a milestone in a teen's life. Each day, more than 9,000 16- and 17-year olds nationwide get their license and get behind the wheel.¹ As teens prepare to take on the responsibility of driving, parents and other influential adults should use this pivotal moment to talk to teens about the dangers of substance use and other risky behaviors. More than 2.9 million driving-age students reported lifetime use of marijuana.² Unfortunately, many young drivers do not understand the risks associated with marijuana use. The most common causes for teen crashes are driver error, speeding, and having additional passengers in cars.³ The crash risk is amplified when combined with illicit drug use.

Teens of driving age are at a higher risk for using marijuana than other teens.

• Approximately 752,000 16- and 17-year-olds reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs in 2004.⁴
• A recent study shows that high school students are more likely to drink, smoke cigarettes and smoke marijuana in the month immediately after earning their drivers' licenses.⁵
• One in four (25%) 16-year-olds reported using marijuana in the past year compared to 17 percent of 15-year-olds.⁶

Many parents and teens are aware of the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol, however today's teens are just as likely to drive under the influence of marijuana as alcohol.

• Fourteen percent of 12^th graders reported smoking marijuana in a car, and 9.1 percent reported drinking beer in a car. The second most common place for high school seniors to report smoking marijuana is in cars, after a friend's house.⁷
• Approximately one in six (15%) teens reported driving under the influence of marijuana, a number nearly equivalent to those who reported driving under the influence of alcohol (16%), despite higher prevalence of alcohol consumption among teens.⁸
• A majority (68%) of licensed teen drivers who use drugs regularly report that they "drug and drive."⁹
• An estimated 38,000 high school seniors in the United States reported in 2001 that they crashed while driving under the influence of marijuana, and 46,000 reported that they crashed while impaired by alcohol.¹⁰
• Alcohol and marijuana are also frequently used together, which results in a dramatic decrease in driving performance and a spike in impairment levels.¹¹

Marijuana impairs driving. Marijuana is harmful and can lead to risky decisions, such as driving while high or riding with someone under the influence of marijuana.

• Marijuana affects concentration, perception, coordination and reaction time, many of the skills required for safe driving. These effects can last up to 24 hours after smoking marijuana.¹²
• Heavy marijuana use impairs young people's ability to concentrate and retain information.¹³
• Marijuana affects receptors in the cortex, the part of the brain in which thought processes take place. Marijuana can distort sensory perceptions, thinking and judgment.¹⁴

Combining drug use and alcohol with teens' inexperience on the road is a recipe for disaster. While the rate of alcohol-related fatal crashes involving teen drivers is declining, this group still has the highest overall crash risk of any age group. ¹⁵

• An ongoing study of a large shock trauma unit found that 19 percent of crash victims under age 18 tested positive for marijuana.¹⁶
• Traffic crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds.¹⁷
• Nearly one in five 16-year-old drivers is involved in a collision in their first year of driving.¹⁸
• Young people aged 15 to 20 years of age make up 6.3 percent (12.4 million) of licensed drivers in the United States, but they are involved in 14.4 percent of all fatal crashes and 18 percent of all police-reported crashes.¹⁹
• Among 16- to 19-year-olds, the risk of crashing per mile driven is four times the risk among older drivers. Risk is highest at age 16. Indeed, the crash rate per mile driven is twice as high among 16-year-olds as it is among 18- to 19-year-olds.²⁰

Parents are the most important influence on their teen when it comes to marijuana use and other risky behaviors, including risky driving. Parents of new drivers can use this pivotal moment in their teen's life to discuss the dangers of marijuana and the need for responsibility behind the wheel.

• Fifty-nine percent of teens who drive say their parents have the most influence on their driving, followed by 27 percent who say their friends are more influential.²¹
• One in three high school students report they "want" or "need" to spend more time with their parents.²²
• Two-thirds of youth aged 13 to 17 say that upsetting their parents or losing the respect of family and friends is one of the main reasons they don't smoke marijuana or use other drugs.²³
• Kids who learn about the risks of drug abuse from their parents or caregivers are about 36 percent less likely to smoke marijuana than kids who don't.²⁴

1. Unpublished estimate derived from U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics, October 2004 (Table DL-20: Distribution of Licensed Drivers - 2003 by Sex and Percentage in Each Age Group and Relation to Population).
2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Illicit Drug Use Table (1.7A), September 2005.
3. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "Fatality Facts 2003: Teenagers," November 2002.
4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Illicit Drug Use Table (7.90A), September 2005.
5. McCarthy D.M. & 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.
6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Illicit Drug Use Table (1.20B), September 2005.
7. 2004-2005 PRIDE Surveys National Summary, "PRIDE Questionnaire Report for Grades 6 thru 12," June 30, 2005.
8. Unpublished estimates derived from U.S. Census Bureau and Monitoring the Future data from O'Malley, Patrick and Johnston, Lloyd, "Unsafe Driving by High School Seniors: National Trends from 1976 to 2001 in Tickets and Accidents After Alcohol, Marijuana and Other Illegal Drugs," Journal of Studies on Alcohol, (64: 305-12), May 2003. [Data show that 15% of U.S. high school seniors surveyed said they drove after using marijuana and 16% drove under the influence of alcohol. Monitoring the Future data are nationally representative.]
9. Students Against Destructive Decisions and Liberty Mutual Group, "Teens Today," 2002.
10. Unpublished estimate derived from U.S. Census Bureau and Monitoring the Future data from O'Malley, Patrick and Johnston, Lloyd, "Unsafe Driving by High School Seniors: National Trends from 1976 to 2001 in Tickets and Accidents After Alcohol, Marijuana and Other Illegal Drugs," Journal of Studies on Alcohol, (64: 305-12), May 2003. [Data show that 0.94% of U.S. high school seniors surveyed said they were drivers in collisions after using marijuana and 1.16% were drivers in collisions after using alcohol. Monitoring the Future data are nationally representative.]
11. U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Traffic Tech: Technology Transfer Series, Number 201: Marijuana and Alcohol Combined Increase Impairment." June 1999. [Based on the Institute for Human Psychopharmacology's "Marijuana, Alcohol and Actual Driving Performance"]
12. National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, "Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know," Revised, November 1998.
13. Pope H.G. et al. Early-onset cannabis use and cognitive deficits: what is the nature of the association? Drug and Alcohol Dependence, (69(3): 303-310), 2003.
14. Reviewed by National Institute on Drug Abuse, April 2005.
15. U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Traffic Safety Facts: Young Drivers," 2003.
16. Epidemiology of Alcohol & Other Drug Use Among Motor Vehicle Crash Victims Admitted to a Trauma Center. J. Michael Walsh, et al. 2004.
17. Ibid.
18. Williams, Alan; Journal of Safety Research, "Teenage Drivers: Patterns of Risk," (34: 5-15), 2003.
19. U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Traffic Safety Facts: Young Drivers," 2004.
20. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "Fatality Facts 2003: Teenagers," November 2002.
21. Students Against Destructive Decisions and Liberty Mutual Group, "Teens Today," 2004.
22. Ibid.
23. Partnership for a Drug-Free America [PDFA], Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, 2002.
24. PDFA, Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, 1999.

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