Florida a 'Hotspot' for Fatal Holiday Teen Crashes

With the holiday season a dangerous time for drivers to be on the road, Allstate Insurance Company released a study identifying three Florida metropolitan areas as the top “hotspots” for fatal teen driving crashes during the holidays.

The study includes data for metropolitan areas around the country, and helps to kick off the company’s national Home for the Holidays teen safe driving campaign.

The Allstate Holiday Teen Driving Hotspots Study found that the 10 deadliest hotspots for fatal teen crashes among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas (a central city and its surrounding counties) from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day are:

				1. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
				2. Jacksonville, FL
				3. Orlando-Kissimmee, FL
				4. Kansas City, MO-KS
				5. Birmingham-Hoover, AL
				6. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
				7. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
				8. Oklahoma City, OK
				9. Louisville, KY-IN
				10. Richmond, VA

The study also revealed that over the past eight holiday seasons, teen drivers nationwide have been involved in more than 5,000 fatal crashes between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Salt Lake City, however, topped the list of safest cities for fatal teen crashes, having experienced just four fatal crashes involving teen drivers during the holidays over the past eight years.

The cities that ranked safest for fatal teen crashes between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day are:

				1. Salt Lake City, UT
				2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
				3. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
				4. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA
				5. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
				6. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
				7. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
				8. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
				9. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
				10. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA

The study examines recent federal crash statistics, Allstate claims data on teen collisions, and U.S. Census Bureau statistics to score metro areas across the nation on rates of fatal crashes involving teen drivers during the holidays. The study was conducted by Allstate in conjunction with Sperling’s BestPlaces (www.bestplaces.net), a Portland, Ore., research firm specializing in demographic studies and analysis.

Through its national Parent-Teen Driving Contract Sign-Up Drive, Allstate encourages parents and teens to download the contract from www.allstate.com/teen and discuss the importance of safe driving. By signing the contract, parents can help ensure their teens return home safely this holiday season and all year long.

Research conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development indicates intervention materials, including parent-teen driving agreements, increase parental restriction of high-risk teen driving conditions among newly licensed drivers.

Allstate also urges state lawmakers to enact stronger state-level GDL laws that allow novice drivers to gain driving experience gradually and under low-risk situations. An effective tool for saving lives, GDL laws typically involve longer periods of supervised driving, restrictions on late-night driving, limits on teen passengers and cell phone bans for drivers.