Colorado ranks 14th on list of states with the riskiest teen drivers

Teens are the riskiest group on the road—according to the CDC, the risk of a fatal crash is three times higher per mile driven for drivers aged 16 to 19 than for drivers aged 20 and up. Risks particularly high for male drivers—who have accounted for between 63% and 69% of vehicle deaths each year from 2005 – 2019, drivers with other teenage passengers, and teens who are in the first few months after receiving their license.

Colorado ranks 14th on the list of states with the riskiest teenage drivers, with 4.9% of students who don’t wear a seat belt, 5.4% of students who drink and drive, and 51.3% of students who text and drive.

However, there have been some encouraging signs that teen driver fatalities are on the decline. In 2005 the total number of teens killed in motor vehicles was 5,300, a number cut by more than half in 2019, to 2,375. Much of this improvement can be attributed to public policy reforms incorporated into the licensing process, including bans on cell phone use, restrictions on driving at night, or limits on the number of passengers who can be in a vehicle with a teen behind the wheel.