The number of Colorado teens killed in car crashes has dropped by more than a third, but deaths could be even lower if more teenagers buckled up, authorities say.
Nationwide, car crashes are the leading cause of death for tweens and teens, a study released Monday showed, noting that riding unbuckled with new teen drivers on high-speed roads created the most dangerous circumstance.
Last year, 43 teens were killed in motor-vehicle crashes in Colorado, a 34 percent drop from 2006, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. Colorado teen motor-vehicle deaths are down 60 percent from a high of 107 in 2002.
Officials credit numerous factors for the decline in teen-driving deaths, including the passing and subsequent strengthening of Colorado’s Graduated Drivers Licensing laws, safe-driving education programs for teens and parents, as well as enforcement of seat-belt laws.
Still, safety officials are concerned about teenagers consistently ranking among those least likely to buckle up. Of the 43 teens drivers and passengers killed in Colorado last year, 27, or 63 percent, were not wearing seat belts.
“One of the toughest parts of communicating this to teens is they don’t think it’s going to happen to them,” said Heather Halpape, a CDOT spokeswoman.
“Worrying about losing their licenses or loss of freedom from driving, that seems to resonate a lot better,” she said.
Drivers under 18 can be pulled over for not wearing a seat belt. Anyone in a car driven by a motorist under 18 must wear a seat belt, according to Colorado law. For each person not buckled up, the teen driver faces two points against his or her license and can lose the license after only six points.
The national study covered six years and focused on nearly 10,000 child passengers who were killed in car crashes. More than half — 54 percent — were riding with a teen driver. Drivers younger than 16 were the most dangerous.
Also, more than three-quarters of the fatal crashes occurred on roads with speed limits higher than 45 mph, and nearly two-thirds of the young passengers were not wearing seat belts, researchers found.
Other dangerous circumstances included drivers who had been drinking alcohol, male teen drivers and driving on weekends, according to the study by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
