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Nearly 43,000 people were killed on roads across the U.S. last year, marking the highest number in more than a decade.

More than 90% of car crashes are caused by human error.

Leading cause of death for persons aged 5 to 34 years.

From 2000-2008 more than 23,000 drivers and 14,000 passengers aged 16-19 years were killed in MVA (Williams AF).

In 2003 cell phone use while driving estimated to cause 330,000 total injuries, 12,000 serious to critical injuries, 2600 deaths per year (Cohen JT, Graham JD).

The leading cause of death among teens in the US.

Teen drivers are four times as likely to be involved in a collision as adult drivers.

Teens with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or twice as likely as neurotypical teen drivers to be in a collision.

Teen drivers, particularly those with ADHD have difficulty sustaining visual attention to the roadway especially when distracted.

When performing distracting tasks, teens take long glances, two seconds or greater, away from the roadway rather than the repeated brief glances between the secondary task and roadway, and such behavior increases the risk of motor vehicle collisions.

Teens with ADHD have higher rates of long glances than neurotypical teens.

There are 12 motor vehicle accident deaths per hundred thousand population.

The marked reduction in motor vehicle crash fatalities over the last couple of decades is related to public health interventions, including safer cars with airbags and self braking systems, improvements in to the built environment and roadway engineering, the increasing use of seatbelts and child safety seats, and legislation to regulate safer driving.

Seat belts reduce the risk of fatality for front-seat occupants in passenger cars by 45%.

Accounts for one third of deaths among teenagers in the United States.

Occupant injuries account for approximately 15% of all nonfatal injuries treated in US emergency departments.

Crash risk is highest during the first years of driving.

For each fatality there is and additional 80 persons injured.

One of every five serious injuries from driving accidents is attributed to driver sleepiness.

From 2005-2009 fatalities associated with driver distraction increased by 22%.

Between 10 and 24 years nearly 400,000 individuals are killed each year worldwide, with millions more injured: mostly in low and middle income countries.

Fatality Analysis Report System for 2004-2008 indicated 9644 passenger vehicle drivers aged 16 or 17 were involved in a fatal crash.

Drivers 15-20 years of age make up 6.4% of all drivers, but account for 10% of all motor vehicle traffic deaths and 14% of all police reported crashes resulting in injuries.

Increased accident rates in young drivers are the result of young age, inexperience and risky driving behaviors.

Fatal crash rates per mile driven for 16-17 year olds are 150% and 90% greater, respectively, than those for 18 and 19 year olds.

Most young people killed in road crashes are pedestrians, bicycle riders, motorcyclists and public transit riders.

Alcohol associated with 38% of fatal crashes.

Single largest contributing factor is alcohol impairment.

In 2018 29% of the 36,560 crash deaths in the US were attributed to impaired driving.

Responsible for the leading cause of alcohol attributable deaths.

Surveys indicate that there are more drivers on roads after using drugs and alcohol.

Alcohol and cannabis are often consumed together, and their use is associated with greater crash risk than the use of either substance alone.

Cannabinoids are the most commonly detected other drugs in fatally injured drivers, with up to 15% in urban areas, and the prevalence is increasing.

Cannabis that contains THC, whether it also contains CBD, results in impaired driving.

CBD does not appear to impaired driving.

Studies indicate that fatal traffic crash risks of drivers who had simultaneously used drugs and alcohol exceed the fatal crash risk of driving from either alone.In 2003 14,600 deaths from motor vehicle accidents in which the driver or nonoccupant had a blood alcohol level of a the least .08 g/dL.

For every 100,000 miles driven, the crash rate for older adults is twice that of younger drivers.

Older drivers involved in a automobile accident are more likely to receive injuries that lead to disabling conditions or death.

Automobile accidents are the second most common reason for older adults to visit the emergency department for injuries.

Is many as 7500 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States may involve drivers who are drowsy.

Approximately 4% of drivers have fallen asleep while driving during the previous 30 days.

Prevalence of drowsiness while driving decreases with age, from 5.9% of adults aged 18-24 years to 1.8% of adults age 65 years or older (Wheaton AG et al).

Drowsy driving is more prevalent among men at 5%, than women at 3%.

Among men aged 18-34 years 6.9% are drowsy drivers compared with 3.5% of women of the same age.

In the above study prevalences drowsy driving was lowest among white adults at 2.9%, and highest among black adults adults at 7.0%.

Drowsy driving is more prevalent in those who sleep five hours or fewer, among snorers, among binge drinkers and among those who infrequently or never wear seatbelts.

Seatbelts reduce the risk for fatal injuries by approximately 45% and serious injuries by approximately 50% are the most effective intervention for protecting occupants.

Distracted driving is defined as the diversion of attention from activities critical for safe driving toward a competing activity and includes eating, talking, adjusting the radio, using electronic devices.

It is estimated that 9% of drivers during the day dial phones, or talk on a cell phone, or send or receive text messages.

Estimated that cell phone use among all drivers increases the risk of a crash by a factor of four.

Comparing drivers who do not use cell phones while driving, the likelihood of a safety critical event is six times higher for drivers dialing a cell phone and 23 times higher for those texting (Olson RL et al).

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