How do teens drive when they’re riding with boys? 18-year old Roxanne Membreno says, “I know the guys…they like showing off.” 20-year-old Vincent Gates says, “When guys are with you, you would be a little bit more adventurous, just because that’s what we do. You challenge your boys or whatever.”

And if the passenger is a teenage girl? 16-year-old Jonah Kinney says, “A girl? Then that’s even more pressure to impress, really, because you want to keep a good impression on her. You want to be a safe driver, but you want to be a smooth driver as well.”

New research from the National Institutes of Health shows teen boys and girls tend to drive faster and take more risks when they have a male passenger.

“If you are with other boys, then you are going to push the limit,” says Len Pagano, president of the Safe America Foundation. “You are going to speed, you are going to be a little more reckless, you might start drinking in the car.”

But the researchers found….when the passenger is a girl….boy drivers are more likely to slow down. Jonah says, “Yes, you’ll probably be safer, because you don’t want to wreck in front of a girl. That would look real bad.”

Safety experts advise parents not to allow teens to drive with boys or girls---until they’ve gained experience. Pagano says, “We encourage parents to think of that first year to 18 months and say, ‘It’s not a time to be taking everybody to the mall. If you don’t have much experience…everybody should meet at the mall.’”

And, he says, parents should encourage kids to speak up----when their friends are taking risks.

“We want teens to influence teens positively,” says Pagano. “And that means if you are a passenger in car, and you think somebody is driving too fast you need to say, ‘Hey, slow down.’”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 20. These deaths account for one-third of all fatalities in this age group.

The NHTSA says three factors work together to account for these statistics for teen drivers:

• Inexperience – Young drivers start out with little knowledge or understanding of the complexities of driving a car.
• Risk-taking behavior and immaturity – Peer pressure and adolescent impulsiveness can result in poor driving judgment and participation in high-risk behaviors such as speeding, inattention and not using a seatbelt.
• Greater risk exposure – Teens often drive at night with other teens in the vehicle. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says that 43 percent of teenage motor vehicle deaths occurred between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. In addition, two out of three teen passenger deaths occurred when the driver of the vehicle was also a teenager.

Driving is a risky business for American teenagers – both male and female. Despite spending less time driving than all other age groups except the elderly, teenage drivers have disproportionately high rates of crashes and accident fatalities. Experts say accident rates for teens are so high because of their immaturity combined with their driving inexperience. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System collected the following data about teenage drivers:

• Approximately 5,933 teens died in motor vehicle crashes in 2002, compared to 5,594 in 2001.
• Teens make up 10 percent of the U.S. population and 14 percent of motor vehicle deaths.
• Crashes are the leading cause of death among 16- to 19-year-olds (39 percent).
• As many as 63 percent of teenage passenger deaths occur in motor vehicle crashes in which another teen was driving.
• Two-thirds of teens killed in motor vehicle crashes are male.
• Among teenage drivers, alcohol was a factor in 23 percent of fatal accidents involving males, 10 percent of fatal accidents involving females.
• Approximately 54 percent of teenage motor vehicle deaths occur on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

The risks involved in letting a teenager get behind the wheel of a car are very real, but there are safety measures parents can take to improve the situation for beginning drivers. The IIHS offers these tips to curb teenage driving accidents:

• Don’t rely solely on driver education – High school driver education may be the most convenient way to teach driving skills, but it doesn’t produce safer drivers.
• Restrict night driving – Most nighttime fatal crashes among young drivers occur between 9 p.m. and midnight, so your teenager shouldn’t be driving much later than 9 p.m.
• Restrict passengers – Teenage passengers in a vehicle can distract a beginning driver and/or lead to greater risk-taking. The best policy is to restrict the number of teenage passengers your teen is allowed to transport.
• Supervise practice driving – Take an active role in helping your teenager learn how to drive. Supervised practice should be spread over at least six months and continue even after your teenager graduates from a learner’s permit to a restricted or full license.
• Remember, you are a role model – New drivers learn by example, so practice safe driving. Teenagers with crashes and violations often have parents with poor driving records.
• Require safety belt use – Don’t assume that just because your teenager uses his/her seatbelt when you’re in the car, he/she will use it while driving, especially when your teen is out with peers. Remember that belt use is lower among teens than older people. Insist that your teenager uses a safety belt at all times.
• Prohibit driving after drinking – Make it clear that it’s illegal and highly dangerous for a teenager to drive after drinking alcohol or using any other drug. While alcohol isn’t a factor in most crashes of teenage drivers, even small amounts of alcohol are impairing for teens.
• Choose vehicles for safety, not image – Teenagers should drive vehicles that reduce their chances of a crash and offer protection in case they do get in an accident. For example, small cars don’t offer the best protection in a crash. Avoid cars with performance images that might encourage speeding. Avoid trucks and sport utility vehicles – the smaller ones, especially, are more prone to roll over.