Leading cause of death for teens age 15 to 19

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for teens between 15 and 20.  We have seen enough of this carnage over the past 30 years to anecdotally confirm this statistic.  The most dangerous time to ride with a young driver is after 10 pm, and a car with four teens driven by a sixteen-year old driver is more dangerous, statistically, than riding with a drunk.  Several states, including Michigan, have responded to these statistics with "graduated" drivers licenses that limit young driver's privileges.  These graduated programs have reduced teen deaths in the affected states by from 20 to 40 percent.