Prom season: 7 things to know about teens, drunk driving and fatal crashes

Teens are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. FILE

Teens are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. FILE
Local News
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May 2, 2019
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With high school prom season under way, area law enforcement agencies are stepping up education efforts on the dangers of drinking and driving.

Here are seven statistics on the issue compiled from information from several agencies. They include the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the Centers for Disease and Control and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

•About one in three traffic deaths in the United States involve a drunk driver.

RELATED: Proposed Ohio law would force drivers to be at least 16 ½ before getting license

•Teens are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. The crash rate for 16-year-olds is much higher - even than that for 17-year-olds - and is almost nine times greater than that of the general population of drivers.

•Drivers under age 21 account for fewer than 10 percent of licensed drivers, but are involved in 13 percent of DUI related fatalities in Ohio.

•Drunken and drugged driving remains the leading cause of death on American roadways. In Ohio, alcohol-impaired driving led to 314 deaths in 2017 — or about six every week.

RELATED: Why experts say the fatal Monroe prom night crash is a 'poster child' for teen driving dangers

•The number of Ohio traffic fatalities involving a drunk driver increased each year from 2013 to 2016, going from 266 to 324.

•During that same time, the number of Ohio drivers under age 20 involved in a fatal wreck jumped annually from 123 to 156.

•Montgomery County has recorded 15 traffic fatalities in 2019, six more than last year at this time.

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Nick Blizzard is a staff writer for the Dayton Daily News. He is a graduate of Stebbins High School who earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and its E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Nick is a Riverside native and has been a journalist in the Dayton area for more than 20 years.