Motor Vehicle Crashes Leading Cause of Death in 15- to 19-Year-Olds in Utah

According to the Utah Department of Health news release, children between the ages of 15 to 19 years old lose their life in automobile accidents more than anything.

According to the reports made by the Utah Department of Public Safety, automobile injuries is the leading cause of death for all Utah children and adults between the ages of 1-44 years-old. In one year 1,300 people are killed as a result to an automobile accident, 10,400 people are hospitalized due to injury in an automobile accident and 181,100 people are treated in the emergency room due to accidents in automobiles. Statistics also show that in Utah alone, 3.5 people die each and everyday due to automobile accidents.

This yea, one in every 36 teenagers between the ages of 15-19 will be treated at a hospital for injuries they have received in an automobile accident. Dr. George Delavan, the Director of Community and Family Health Services of the Utah Department of Health states that "Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15-19 year-olds in Utah and this simply is not acceptable" he also adds "So UDOH, Utah's 12 local health departments and the Task Force are focusing safety efforts on teens. We also need to devote more resources to promising education and media campaigns"

In the report done by the Utah Department of Public Safety, the number one contributor for the deaths of the teen drivers in 2005 was speed. It also shows that crashes where the teen was driving the car with other occupants was five times more likely to be fatal than accidents that have less occupants in them.