The Erie Times today reported that there were 34,376 Pennsylvania car accidents attributed to younger drivers in 2008, the most recent year for which such statistics were available. Statistically, the article reports, drivers in age groups 16 – 17 and 18 – 19 are far more likely than any other to be involved in an accident. The age group under 21 accounts for 60% of all accidents involving more than one vehicle and 40% of all single vehicle collisions.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety , a Washington, D.C. based safety advocacy organization, has been critical of Pennsylvania’s teen driving laws for years, having rated Pennsylvania as among the worst states in the union for teen driving laws. A spokesman for the group expressed frustration that Pennsylvania’s legislators seem uninterested in the problem of Pennsylvania teen driving accidents.
The article does not suggest how the laws might be improved.