What's Killing Our Teens? U.S. Survey Describes the Factors Contributing to Vehicle Crashes

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia(R) and State Farm(R) Join Forces to Address the Issue

BLOOMINGTON, Ill., Jan. 25, 2007; In a new national survey released today, 5,665 high school students said they are driving under extremely dangerous conditions -- fatigue, talking on cell phones, strong emotions, multiple passengers -- and many are still not wearing seatbelts. The National Teen Driver Survey, released today by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia(R) and State Farm(R), represents 10.6 million 9th, 10th and 11th grade students in all public high schools in the United States.

"Research has told us a lot about which teens get into crashes, but we don't know enough about the why," says Flaura K. Winston, M.D., Ph.D., co- scientific director and founder of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and principal investigator of the National Teen Driver study. "With this survey, we asked teens directly: what is happening when your peers drive that is making them unsafe?"

  Key findings about the teen experience in cars shows:
  -- 75 percent of teens see peers driving fatigued
  -- 90 percent see passenger behavior that distracts the driver
  -- 20 percent of 11th graders report being in a crash as a driver in the
     past year

The survey also revealed the important role that the teens see for their parents:

  -- 66 percent say that they care about their parents' opinion on cell
     phone use while driving
  -- 56 percent of them rely on parents to learn how to drive
  -- 39 percent of their parents provide total financial responsibility for
     their driving

"Teens described a driving environment that would be challenging even to experienced drivers," says Winston. "Combine this driving environment with lack of training and inexperience and you have a deadly mix."

In 2005, almost 7,500 15-to 20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The fatality rate for drivers aged 16 to 19 years, based on miles driven, is four times that of drivers aged 25 to 69 years.

"Our aim is to help young drivers make safe decisions," says Laurette Stiles, Vice President Strategic Resources at State Farm. "We want to give them tools to help them avoid hazards and ultimately to save lives and make our roads safer for all."

The National Teen Driver Survey is the first phase of a multidisciplinary initiative of research, education and programmatic interventions that can be implemented nationally to save lives. Under an existing alliance between The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm, this initiative is dedicated to taking research results and translating them into nationwide action to save teen's lives. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm have a proven track record in conducting research and implementing programming that have helped reduce injuries and fatalities to children in motor vehicle crashes through Partners for Child Passenger Safety.

Parents and teens can learn more about the latest research and recommendations on safe driving for teens at http://www.chop.edu/youngdrivers and http://www.statefarm.com/.

About State Farm

State Farm(R) insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees serve nearly 75 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.6 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 22 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://statefarm.com/ (R) or in Canada http://statefarm.ca/ (TM).

About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric health care professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430- bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu/.