Study: Teens' safety rests with passenger

A warning to parents of teenage drivers: Your teen is more

likely to engage in dangerous behavior behind the wheel - speeding, tailgating

- if a teenage male passenger is in the car. But those same teenage drivers, of

either gender, are more likely to obey the rules of the road if their

passenger is a teenage girl.

Conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

and published online last week in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention,

the study was based on observation of 471 teen drivers near the campuses of 10

high schools in suburban Washington, D.C. Researchers found that, while 14.9

percent of teenage boys and 13.1 percent of teenage girls were seen driving

dangerously, 25 percent of all teen drivers traveling at least 15 mph in excess

of the posted speed limit had a male passenger in the vehicle.

Fewer than 7 percent of the speeders had a female passenger in the vehicle.

The indication, according to Bruce G. Simons-Morton, the study's author, is

that the presence of a male passenger encourages both male and female teens to

drive faster - perhaps to show off - while the presence of a female passenger

encourages safer driving.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show

motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers aged 15-19,

with about 5,000 teens killed annually. Those statistics also show drivers in

that age group are the most dangerous on the road - with the greatest risk for

a crash coming within the first six months or 1,000 miles of receiving a

license. That said, Simons-Morton said parents should restrict all teen drivers

from driving with teen passengers.

"It really makes sense," he said. "Because each teen passenger increases

the risk."

Most states place passenger restrictions on teenage drivers. But those

restrictions vary widely by state. In New York, drivers under 17, who already

face curfew restrictions, cannot drive with more than two passengers in the

vehicle who are under age 21 - unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. But

those restrictions are lifted when a driver receives his or her full license,

according to Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Joe Picchi.

After receiving his license yesterday at the DMV office in Amityville, new

driver Greg Stevens, 17, of Massapequa, said the study would not stop him from

driving with his friends.

"I think I'm a safe driver," he said. "I'm not going to crash."

His father, Rob, said he had talked to his son about not driving with other

teens in the car. "But," Rob Stevens said, "I can't follow him around, either.

I hope he does the right thing."

Another father, Roy Wesley Sr., of Wheatley Heights, said he has already

laid down the law for his son, Roy Jr.

The choice, he said, was no kids in the car - or no car.

"Nobody is going to drive with him other than me or his mother," the elder

Wesley said of his 16-year-old son, a student at Half Hollow Hills East who had

just received his learner's permit - which, under law, means he cannot drive

without parental supervision. "What he learns now will stick with him all his

life - so, he's got to learn the right way. The right way is no other kids in

the car. That's it."

The younger Wesley agreed. "If they said I can't, then I can't. I'd rather

have a car and drive by myself than drive with my friends and not have a car."

Risky driving

Having a teen male in the front passenger seat can affect driver behavior, a

study shows.

How many teens exceeded speed limit by 15 mph or more when there was . . .

No passenger

6%

A teen female passenger

7%

A teen male passenger

25%

Average among all drivers (regardless of passengers)

9%

SOURCE: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH