Teen Auto Fatalities Study Ranks Bay Area Worst Of 50

TAMPA - A new study ranks the Bay area worst out of 50 metro areas in the country for teen drivers.

There were 41.5 fatal crashes per 100,000 teenagers in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area from 2000 through 2006, according to the study by Allstate Insurance Co.

According to the study, October, December and April are the worst months for the fatalities in the Bay area.

By comparison, the safest area in the study, the San Francisco Bay area, saw 12.43 fatal crashes per 100,000 teen drivers in the same period.

The second and third worst areas cited by the study also are in Florida: the Orlando-Kissimmee area and Jacksonville.

Florida ranked 16th among states in per capita teen fatalities. In Florida, 71.2 percent of teen fatal crashes involved male drivers.

According to study data, 40.9 percent of fatal crashes in the Bay area involving teenage drivers had a lack of seatbelt use as a contributing factor. Speeding was a factor in 26.8 percent, and alcohol was a factor in 6.8 percent. In addition, 3.5 percent of crashes involved drug use.

"The study shouldn't just concern parents and leaders in the nation's deadliest hot spots; car crashes claim the lives of more American teens than anything else coast-to-coast," said George Ruebenson, president of Allstate Protection, which is one of the four segments of Allstate Corp. "Although some cities post better scores than others, the whole country must take responsibility for addressing this crisis. We feel that state and federal leaders should enact uniform national standards for graduated driver's licensing laws. Further, we must have better conversations with teens about safe driving and set good examples through our own good driving behavior."

Allstate offers materials to help parents talk to teens about safe driving, including a Parent-Teen Driving Contract that helps set guidelines for smart driving and consequences for not living up to those expectations. Get the contract online at www.allstate.com\teen.

Data from the study can be found at http://media.allstate.com/categories/6/releases/4403.

The study used data from a national fatal crashes database, insurance claims information and U.S. Census Bureau statistics.