United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Teen Driver Safety

A teen’s inexperience behind the wheel makes them more susceptible to crashes, so including teen safety messaging in a traffic safety communication plan is important. Specific risk factors for teens behind the wheel include: alcohol and drug use, not wearing a seat belt, distracted driving, additional passengers, speeding, and drowsy driving.

Many communication resources on this page come in two versions, one speaking to the teen driver and the other speaking to their parents. Also, many assets are available in English and Spanish. Share this information with partner organizations to help spread the message across all communities.

Teen Driver Safety Week is October 20–26, 2024 – a good opportunity to increase safety messaging across all platforms.
 

Facts

Teen driving facts, stats and reports from NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis

 Get More Facts
  • Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for teens (15-18 years old) in the United States.
  • In 2022, there were 2,514 people killed in crashes involving a teen passenger vehicle driver (15-18 years old), of which 811 deaths were the teen passenger vehicle driver. 
Graphics

For Teens

Asset Type

English
Teen | Extra Passengers | English 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | General | English 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Impaired Driving | English 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Modeling | English 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Seat Belt | English 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Speeding | English 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Texting | English 4 animated | 4 static
Spanish
Teen | Extra Passenger | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | General | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Impaired Driving | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Modeling | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Seat Belt | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Speeding | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Teen | Texting | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Graphics

For Parents

Asset Type

English
Parents | Alcohol | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Drugs OTC | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Drugs | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Extra Passengers | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | General 1 | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | General 2 | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | General 3 | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Modeling | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | No Image | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Seat Belts | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Speeding | English 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Texting | English 4 animated | 4 static
Spanish
Parents | Alcohol | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Drugs OTC | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Drugs | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Extra Passengers | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | General 1 | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | General 2 | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | General 3 | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Modeling | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | No Image | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Seat Belts | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Speeding | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Parents | Texting | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static

Social Media

We created two social media playbooks -- one for a teen audience and another for the parents of a teen. The playbooks contain sample social media content in English and Spanish. Download these guide for instructions on posting the below playbook graphics to Facebook and X. The content is designed for easy posting and seamless integration into your current social media strategy.

Also, additional sample social media posts, in English and Spanish, are available for download. Images often help boost the engagement of social posts. Our image library, linked below in the Resource section, has a variety of images that you can associate with these sample social media posts.

Teen Driver Safety Week

Teen Driver Safety Week is October 20–26, 2024, and you'll see increased communication related to teen driving. You can use any of the material available on this page to increase your messaging.

Also, sample news releases can be downloaded and used during Teen Driver Safety Week.

Additional Resources