January 25, 2013 A pair of studies by The Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm® identify factors that may
lead teens to drive with multiple peer passengers and, then, how
those passengers may affect their driver’s behavior just before
a serious crash. The studies were published January 24 in the
Journal of Adolescent Health. Experts have long known that peer
passengers increase teen driver crash risk. What hasn’t been
well understood was how they increase crash risk. “These studies
help us understand the factors that may predispose teens to
drive with multiple friends and how those passengers may
contribute to crashes by distracting the driver and promoting
risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, tailgating, or
weaving,” said study author Allison Curry, PhD, director of
epidemiology at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention.
“Knowing this, we can develop programs that work in tandem with
current Graduated Driver Licensing laws that limit the number of
passengers for teens during