PEDIATRICS Vol. 107 No. 1 January 2001, pp. 215-215

Motor Vehicles for Teenagers

To the Editor.

Most parents have concerns for the safety of their teenage children as they approach the age of 16 years and the prospect of driving a car. Several factors play a role in the risk of death and injury from vehicle crashes for teen drivers, including the experience, maturity, and ability of the driver, as well as the safety of the vehicle itself. As a society, we try to assure safety with laws and rules that govern driver education, testing, licensing, alcohol and drug use, curfews, and seatbelt use. As parents, we try to support these rules and reinforce responsible behavior behind the wheel. One other area in which we, as parents, have an important role is in the choice of the vehicle which our teens drive. A survey by Rivara et al¹ showed that more than 30% of parents indicated that the family would buy an additional vehicle for their teenagers to drive. I would like to relate my experience with three teen drivers (my children) and an approach which influenced their buying a safer car.

After beginning to drive, each of my children became interested in having a car of his/her own, and each had worked to save money to be able to buy a used car. Each began with aspirations of buying a small sports car or a small, open-air, sport utility vehicle, almost all of which are less safe than larger sedans,^2,3 which my teenagers would not consider for purchase. I offered to assist in buying a vehicle for each of my children, if they would choose safer ones. Economic incentives and data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) offered a mechanism for me to guide my teenage children toward cars which may be safer.

IIHS has published driver death rates for many makes and models of recent vehicles.⁴ A score is calculated based on the actual death rate of drivers per 10 000 registered vehicles for more than 140 different vehicles of recent model years, usually 3 to 7 years old. A score of 100 is assigned for the average driver death rate; 200 is twice the average, 50 is half the average, etc. Our family agreement was that our teen would contribute the percentage of the price of the vehicle, which was equal to the IIHS score for that vehicle (ie, the lower the score, the lower the percentage the teen would have to contribute). From that point forward, none of my children even considered buying vehicles with scores approaching 100 or more. After considerable study, one of my children discovered that a previous IIHS report had found that the Volvo 240 series (1990-1992) had a score of 0. That is, for a full year, there were no driver deaths reported for these vehicle model years⁵; this meant that he would have to pay nothing for the car. So that he would be making some contribution to the purchase, we agreed to use a more recent issue of the IIHS driver death rate comparisons, in which the Volvo received a score of 10, meaning that he would pay 10%, and I would pay the rest. The result of this program is that each of my three children has eventually come to the same conclusion, and each now is the proud owner of a Volvo 240, and there has been no complaining.

There is no way to determine which vehicle is truly the "safest,"⁵ and driver death rates are a reflection of some combination of vehicle factors and the type of person who drives such vehicle. Nevertheless, it is probably a reasonable approximation for the crashworthiness of the vehicle. Other measures of vehicle safety, which should be used to choose a safer vehicle, include size, crash test results, and presence of other safety features, such as airbags.

Many parents cannot afford to contribute to the purchase of a vehicle for their teenager. However, among the 30+% who may purchase one,¹ a program to link the amount of parental contribution to the safety of the vehicle may have merit in guiding teens toward safer vehicle. It certainly had that effect in our family.

Gregory R. Istre
Dallas, TX 75240

REFERENCES

1. Rivara FP, Rivara MB, Bartol K. Dad, may I have the keys? Factors influencing which vehicles teenagers drive. Pediatrics. 1998;102(5). URL: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/102/5/357
2. Evans L, Frick MC Mass ratio and relative driver fatality risk in two-vehicle crashes. Accid Anal Prev. 1993; 25:213-224 [CrossRef][Medline]
3. Evans L, Frick MC Car size or mass: which has greater influence on fatality risk? Am J Public Health 1992; 82:1105-1112 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
4. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Driver death rates by make and series, 1991-1995 models. September 1997. Internet site: www.hwysafety.org
5. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Special issue: driver death rates by vehicle make and series. Status Report. 1994;29(11). October 8, 1994
6. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Vehicle by vehicle death rate comparisons; Volvo 240 and Saab 9000 rate best among 178. Status Report. 1995;30(9). October 14, 1995