Can pediatricians successfully promote safe driving agreements between teens and parents?
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. A study presented Monday, Oct. 28, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando evaluated a pediatric intervention that directed families to a new web-based Checkpoints™ safe driving program for parents of teen drivers.
In collaboration with Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS), the American Academy of Pediatrics’ practice-based research network, the study authors created a brief intervention protocol, training plan, promotional materials, and a Checkpoints™ website, which will be sustained by the AAP.
The website includes teen driving statistics and resources that help parents keep their teen drivers safe, as well as state-specific teen driving laws and an interactive component that helps parents create their own parent-teen driving agreement including driving hours, number of teen passengers allowed in the car, and other guidelines that can be modified over time.
From March 2012 to July 2013, 133 pediatricians completed training and participated in the program. Pediatricians delivered a two-minute intervention and distributed key chains imprinted with the Checkpoints™ website address to families with driving-age teens.
Nearly 4,000 parents were reached through the program, resulting in more than 2,111 website visits. Website visitors clicked on an average of 4.2 pages and spent an average of 3.5 minutes on the site. The pages viewed most often were those on teen driving risks, account registration, and state-specific teen driving laws.
The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and built upon the Checkpoints TM program developed at National Institutes of Health (NIH) by Bruce Simons-Morton, a coauthor on the study.
Motor Vehicle Safety
Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. More than 2.3 million adult drivers and passengers were treated in emergency departments as the result of being injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2009. The economic impact is also notable: the lifetime costs of crash-related deaths and injuries among drivers and passengers were $70 billion in 2005.
CDC’s research and prevention efforts target this serious public health problem. We focus on improving car and booster seat and seat belt use and reducing impaired driving, and helping groups at risk: child passengers, teen drivers, and older adult drivers. CDC also works to prevent pedestrian and bicycle injuries.
Based on the magnitude of the health problem, and our ability to make significant progress in improving outcomes, Motor Vehicle Injury Prevention is a CDC Winnable Battle.
“Parents play a key role in limiting and monitoring their teens’ early driving,” said study author Jean Thatcher Shope, MSPH, PhD. “The parent-directed, evidence-based Checkpoints™ program, adapted to a user-friendly website, can help parents protect their teen drivers, and is available at no cost.”
“Promoted through a brief intervention from a teen’s doctor, the program encourages parents to use the recommended parent-teen driving agreement and other resource materials to help their teen drivers stay safe,” Shope said.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
A total of 3,023 teenagers ages 13-19 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2011. This is 65 percent fewer than in 1975 and 3 percent fewer than in 2010.
About 2 out of every 3 teenagers killed in crashes in 2011 were males.
Teen drivers had crash rates 3 times those of drivers 20 and older in 2011.
In 2011, teenagers accounted for 10 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths. They comprised 11 percent of passenger vehicle (cars, pickups, SUVs, and vans) occupant deaths among all ages, 7 percent of pedestrian deaths, 3 percent of motorcyclist deaths, 10 percent of bicyclist deaths and 15 percent of all-terrain vehicle rider deaths.
Eighty percent of teenage motor vehicle crash deaths in 2011 were passenger vehicle occupants. The others were pedestrians (10 percent), motorcyclists (5 percent), bicyclists (2 percent), riders of all-terrain vehicles (2 percent) and people in other kinds of vehicles (2 percent).
Fifty-three percent of motor vehicle crash deaths among teenagers in 2011 occurred on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Teenage motor vehicle crash deaths in 2011 occurred most frequently from 9 p.m. to midnight (16 percent) and midnight to 3 a.m. (16 percent).
In 2011, 59 percent of the deaths of teenage passengers in passenger vehicles occurred in vehicles driven by another teenager. Among deaths of passengers of all ages, 16 percent occurred when a teenager was driving.
In 2011, seatbelt use among fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers ages 16-19 (42 percent) was higher than among fatally injured drivers ages 20-29 (36 percent) but lower than among drivers 30 and older combined (49 percent). Among fatally injured 16-19 year-old occupants, belt use among passengers (32 percent) was considerably lower than among drivers (42 percent). Note that belt use among those fatally injured is not always accurately recorded, but it gives an indication of relative belt use rates in serious crashes by age group.
Among passenger vehicle drivers ages 16-19 involved in fatal crashes in 2011, 49 percent were involved in single-vehicle crashes.
In 2011, 11 percent of all drivers 15 to 19 years old involved in fatal crashes were distracted at the time of the crash. Among the distracted drivers 15 to 19 years old, 21 percent were distracted by the use of cellphones at the time of the crash.
Thirty-two percent of drivers age 15 to 20 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2011 had been drinking some amount of alcohol; 26 percent were alcohol-impaired, which is defined by a BAC of 0.08 or higher.
In 2011, 39 percent of male drivers age 15 to 20 who were involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash; 37 percent of male drivers in the 21-to 24-year old age group involved in fatal crashes were speeding.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report in May 2012 that showed that the risk of 16- or 17-year old drivers being killed in a crash increases with each additional teenage passenger in the vehicle. The risk increases 44 percent with one passenger; it doubles with two passengers, and quadruples with three or more passengers. The study analyzed crash data and the number of miles driven by 16- and 17-year olds.
In 2006 (latest data available) crashes involving 15- to 17-year-olds cost more than $34 billion nationwide in medical treatment, property damage and other costs, according to an AAA analysis.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.
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Debbie Jacobson
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847-434-7084
American Academy of Pediatrics