Car wrecks involving teenage drivers rise considerably during the summer when most teenagers are out of the classroom and have more time to spend traveling Illinois and the nation’s roads. Teen driver-involved crashes increase so much between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year, in fact, that a substantial percentage of all road deaths from crashes involving teen drivers take place within this span.
According to WIFR, fatal car wrecks involving teenagers increase both statewide and nationally during the 100 Deadliest Days stretch.
Illinois 100 Deadliest Days crash statistics
In Illinois, 249 people died in incidents involving teenage drivers during the last 10 100 Deadliest Days spans. Throughout the year in Illinois, about 76 people die in crashes involving teenage drivers. An average of 19 of those deaths take place within the span of time between Memorial Day and Labor Day. While, often, the people dying in teen driver-involved crashes are traveling in cars not driven by the teenager, about 22 teen drivers die every year in wrecks that occurred within the 100 Deadliest Days.
National 100 Deadliest Days crash statistics
Nationally, 30% of all road deaths involving teenage drivers take place during summer’s 100 Deadliest Days. In a typical year, 2,081 teen drivers find themselves involved in fatal car wrecks, and 636 of them take place between Memorial Day and Labor Day. More than 7,038 people lost their lives in car crashes involving teenagers during the summertime between 2010 and 2019, with an average of seven people losing their lives each day during the 100 Deadliest Days stretch.
Parents of new drivers may want to limit when, where and with whom their teenagers may drive until they gain more driving experience, particularly in the summertime.