In 2024, traffic-related deaths in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in five years, according to preliminary estimates released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
This sounds positive in isolation, but still reflects the sad reality that over 39,000 people lost their lives in auto collisions in the course of just 12 months. The knock-on effect of this leaves its mark on a huge number of families and communities across the country.
Of course, even this data doesn’t paint the full picture of the road safety dilemma we all face, because not all accidents are fatal, and millions of motorists and pedestrians suffer injuries that require emergency attention every year.
An even more worrying trend that’s buried in the figures is that Gen Z drivers are more likely than any other generation to get injured in auto accidents. This is a fact that caught the attention of the team at Silverthorne Attorneys, which examined the hows and whys behind it.
Here’s a roundup of the data that demonstrates the extent of the problem facing Gen Z motorists, likely reasons behind their injury-prone status, and what preventive actions are possible.
Painful Truths
The NHTSA’s most recent data on auto injuries, which doesn’t rely on preliminary estimates, is from 2023, shows that 203,256 people aged between 15 and 24 were hurt as a result of crashes.
The younger the driver is, the more their age group is represented disproportionally in traffic accidents. Under-20s are the most at-risk, as just 5.1% of all licensed motorists fall into this category, yet they account for 12.6% of all collisions.
The only people who are more likely to get caught up in a traffic incident on a per-mile basis are the over-80s, so those in the tail end of Gen Z before Gen Alpha becomes the next generation to start their driving journey remain most at risk of injury or death behind the wheel.
Data from the CDC is similarly damning. Based on emergency department visits resulting from motor vehicle crashes, people in the 15- to 24-year-old age range have the highest average attendance per 1,000, at 19.1. The next highest rate is for those aged 25 to 44, where 14.1 people per 1,000 required emergency medical attention. This drops to just 9.9 for those over 45.
Problematic Causes
While there’s no question that the majority of auto collisions are not deliberate, there are avoidable actions taken by drivers which contribute to them significantly. Young drivers are notoriously known for their poor habits in this regard.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety published a study into the culture around this issue in 2024, and it singles out male teenage drivers as accounting for a larger share of the ‘most dangerous driver’ subcategory than any other demographic.
This same study identified a disconnect in terms of how those aged 19 to 24 perceive distracted driving, and whether they participate in behaviors that align with it. To put it another way:
- 84.5% of drivers aged 19 to 24 recognize that manually texting or emailing via a handheld device while driving is dangerous.
- 45.5% of drivers aged 19 to 24 manually sent a text or email via handheld device in the last month.
In other words, most Gen Z drivers are aware that they should not drive while using a cell phone; yet, more people in this group than any other ignore this knowledge and continue this potentially fatal habit anyway.
Meanwhile, a CDC report from 2019 found that 39% of high schoolers who had driven in the last month also admitted to reading and writing text messages or emails while at the wheel. In fact, the NHTSA asserts that distracted driving accounts for 9% of all fatal traffic collisions involving drivers aged 15 to 20. Again, this makes it a more prominent cause than in any other age bracket.
All this is exacerbated by the fact that young drivers who admit to distracted driving behaviors are also more likely than their peers to engage in other unsafe habits, including:
- Not wearing a seatbelt.
- Driving under the influence.
- Getting in a car with another driver who is a DUI risk.
The last factor at play, and one which Gen Z cannot escape, is that younger drivers own older cars with fewer safety features than the latest and greatest models. This means that fewer advanced driver aids are present, and crash protection technology is also less capable. The extent to which this contributes to injury and death figures is tough to measure, but it’s worth mentioning nevertheless.
Potential Solutions
Among this bleak data, there is good news. This comes in the form of several proven strategies that have the potential to reduce auto collision-related injuries among Gen Z drivers and protect individuals in this group on a moment-to-moment basis when they are driving.
First, the NHTSA recommends the use of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) to limit risks and reduce the extent to which new drivers are exposed to common hazards. Studies over time and from various countries have shown that GDLs can reduce injury crashes significantly among learners and cause a similar decrease in fatal collisions as well. There are costs involved in this three-tiered approach to licensing, but they’re worth paying.
Next, there’s the rollout of high-visibility enforcement (HVE) of laws designed to stamp out distracted driving. This is in response to the uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of these laws in isolation. In other words, young people will continue to drive while texting and emailing even if they know it’s dangerous and illegal, unless there’s conspicuous efforts by police to catch and penalize drivers who flout the law.
Finally, there’s the rise of telematics-based insurance policies, which serve the purpose of incentivizing safe driving among young people with real-time tracking that detects safe and unsafe driving behaviors and impacts coverage affordability directly. Motorists are motivated to avoid distractions, wear seatbelts, and stick to the speed limit when they know this can dramatically reduce the cost of car insurance.
The Last Word
This should not be seen as an attempt to demonize Gen Z drivers. They may be more likely to get injured in car accidents than their elders, but there are still plenty of people aged over 25 who are guilty of distracted driving and other dangerous habits behind the wheel, putting themselves and others at risk.
If anything, this is a symptom of the times. Car safety systems are more advanced than ever, but youngsters cannot afford brand-new models that feature them, and must instead settle for second-hand vehicles that don’t have anywhere near the same level of anti-collision automation at their disposal.
Advanced licensing, high-visibility enforcement and insurance with real-time monitoring all stand to benefit Gen Z drivers who want to make car ownership safer and more affordable simultaneously. It’s down to individuals, as well as their peers and parents, to make this happen.
