KC ranks high for teen fatalities, is lack of transit a reason?
The Star recently reported that Kansas City ranks number seven out of the fifty largest metro areas for the number of teens killed in automobile crashes. The article talks all about teen driving, but completely ignores the lack of alternatives to driving.
Perhaps the lack of transportation choice is one of the reasons why our teen fatality rate is so high. Kansas routinely ranks near the bottom when comes to things like public transportation, bicycling, walking, etc. Most teens in the metro area have few if any options besides the automobile if they want to work or participate in after school activies.
Study shows KC ranks high among metro areas for fatal crash rates involving teens
Car crashes are the leading cause of teenage deaths in the country, and they are taking a toll in the Kansas City area.
Among the U.S.’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, Kansas City ranked seventh in the fatal crash rate involving teens, according to a new study by Allstate Insurance Co.
The study also found Missouri with the fourth-highest number of teen-related fatal crashes per capita from 2000-2006. Kansas was 14th.
“It’s time our entire nation acts against this public-health crisis,” Christopher Lovest, assistant field vice president for Allstate, said in a statement. He said parents should start talking to their teens about “smart driving decisions” before they get behind the wheel.
Missouri officials said, however, that the trend had improved since the Allstate study. That study examined federal statistics, Allstate claims data and U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2000-2006. Scores were calculated based on the number of teen-related fatalities, coupled with teen-driving accidents reported to Allstate.
Kansas City had a teen-related fatal crash rate of 34.97 per 100,000 teens. Topping the list was Florida’s Tampa-St. Petersburg area at 41.5.
Speed was cited in about 46 percent of Kansas City’s teen-related fatal crashes. Alcohol was cited in 13 percent.
Teen driving is a nationwide problem. Drivers 15-20 are involved in about 13 percent of fatal crashes, although they represent only about 6 percent of the driving public.
Missouri officials said the numbers in the study did not reflect the latest decreases in teen driving fatalities.
The number of drivers younger than 21 involved in fatal crashes dropped to 179 last year from 262 in 2005, said Leanna Depue, director of highway safety for the Missouri Department of Transportation. The Allstate study looked at drivers 15-19.
Depue credited the drop to Missouri’s graduated driver’s license law, which provides increased parental scrutiny.
Efforts to pass such a law in Kansas died in the Legislature each of the last two years.
Depue said Missouri saw increased seat-belt use among young drivers. She said the rate among drivers 15-18 had risen to 61 percent last year from 53 percent in 2003. Yet, roughly 70 percent of teens killed in crashes weren’t wearing a belt.
