Head Injuries Most Common Injury in Teen Crashes

Among the more than 55,000 teen drivers and their passengers seriously injured each year in 2009 and 2010, 30 percent suffered head injuries, including concussion, skull fractures and traumatic brain injuries (TBI), according to a new teen driver safety report released by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm Insurance.

While the report highlights a decline in teen driver-related fatalities in the past six years, researchers are concerned about the burden of motor vehicle crash-related brain injury on families and the nation’s health care system.

Crashes remain the leading cause of death for teens and kill nearly five times as many 15- to 19-year-olds as cancer or poisoning.

“Since full recovery from serious head injuries is often not achievable, there can be a significant life-long impact from these injuries on teens and their families,” said Dr. Dennis R. Durbin, lead author of the report and co-scientific director for the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The brain is the organ that is least able to heal, so prevention is the best medicine.”

In 2010, 1,849 fewer teen drivers and their passengers perished in crashes as compared to 2005, according to the report. Researchers said this is a substantial public health achievement for those in traffic safety.

The researchers noted significant variation in fatality rates among states – ranging from a low of 3.9 deaths per 100,000 teens in Massachusetts to a high of 29.1 per 100,000 teens in Montana in 2009-2010. The average annual fatality rate for all 50 states was 9.5 deaths per 100,000 teens.

It’s in this variation that researchers see opportunities to realize further reductions in fatality rates. The dramatic variation is due, at least in part, to the strength of a state’s GDL law, the report indicated.

Twelve states implemented comprehensive GDL policy and other programs to reduce their teen fatality rate by more than 50 percent in just six years. Six states – Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island – have maintained rates of less than 10 crash-related deaths per 100,000 teens since 2005-2006. All six states have comprehensive GDL laws, according to the report.

“States with comprehensive GDL laws have lower fatality rates than those with weaker laws,” said Chris Mullen, director of technology research for Strategic Resources at State Farm Insurance. “Primary seat belt laws and teen-focused initiatives to increase seat belt use will also help further reduce deaths and injuries, even if a crash occurs,” he said.