Peer Pressure: Teenagers Behind the Wheel

The majority of children start walking by the time they are 14 or 15 months old. Of course, there are exceptions to the general rule, since some children don’t walk until they are 17 months old. Just like with walking, it takes time for a human being to become mature enough for practicing a certain activity. It has been accepted in the United States that the best minimum drinking age is 21. However, the minimum age for driving in most of the states is 16, which means that teenagers constitute to a big percentage of drivers in the United States (Ferguson et al., 2007). Unfortunately, teens have little resistance to and are extremely vulnerable to one of the worst on-the-road enemies of youthful drivers – peer pressure. Furthermore, that is one of the main reasons why, according to the NHTSA, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers aged between 15 and 20 (Frisman, 2010).

According to the analysis of numerous federal accident statistics, it was found that more than half (about 55%) of fatal crashes involving 16 to 17-year-old drivers with no adults in the car occurred with a passenger younger than age 20 (Moller et al., 2014). Moreover, teenage drivers with two or more passengers, especially male passengers, are at a higher risk of fatal crashes, since driving with peers is an extremely desirable activity that has the potential to afford the drivers status, peer approval, and independence. A report from a journal entitled “Accident Analysis and Prevention” summarizes the psychology behind the teens’ desire to show off in front of their peers: “Overall, 16-year-old drivers, compared with drivers of other ages, were most likely to have been accompanied by one or more passengers at the time of their fatal crash involvement… The results of this study indicate that the risk of being involved in a fatal crash is much higher for teenage drivers when passengers are present in the vehicle as compared with driving alone, particularly when the passengers are other teenagers and particularly when more than one teenage passenger is present (Moller et al., 2014).”

Passengers can contribute to different types of distractions, and about 38.4% of 2,144 California high school seniors surveyed in 2006 reported they had been distracted in one way or another by their passengers (Shope, 2006). Specifically, the following distractions were reported: 45% said their passengers were yelling and being loud, 22% said passengers were “fooling around,” and 7.5% reported that passengers were intentionally distracting them by, for example, tickling them or trying to grab the wheel (Shope, 2006).

Figure 1: Distractions Reported by California High School Seniors in 2006
Source: “Injury Prevention” Journal

The key issue is that teenage passengers often create dangerous situations for the driver by encouraging high-risk behavior, which triggers emotional impulses that neither the drivers themselves nor their parents can control. In order to understand the behavior of teenage drivers, it is important to consider all different factors that affect it, and the figure below summarizes those influences.

Figure 2: Influences on Youthful Driving Behavior
Source: “Injury Prevention” Journal

Peer pressure is an extremely powerful factor that can lead to teenage driver distractions even when there are no passengers in the car. For instance, very often teenagers do not want to ignore their friends, which leads to texting and driving. This and many other reasons contributed to the development of the Graduated Licensing Programs (GDL) in all states, which divide the process of obtaining driving privileges into steps (Simmons-Morton et al., 2014). The first step is to take a written test for a learner’s permit, which allows for supervised driving. The next step is the road test, after which teenagers 18 and older can drive independently, and teens under 18 can drive with restrictions on passengers and nighttime driving. The research suggests that the GDL has led to a 37% overall decrease in the number of fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers between 1996 and 2005 (Simmons-Morton et al., 2014).  Additionally, the rate of fatal crashes involving teenage passengers decreased by 41% and crashes with passengers of other ages decreased by 49% (Ferguson et al., 2007). Passengers in the car driven by a teenager play a significant, if not equal to the driver’s role in maintaining safety during the ride. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the peer pressure, be able to resist it when needed and to be a responsible passenger when driven by a peer.

Works Cited (MLA Format) 

Ferguson, Susan, Eric Tech, and Anne McCartt. “Progress in Teenage Crash Risk During the Last Decade.” Journal of Safety Research 37.2 (2007): 137-45.

Frisman, Paul. “Teen Driving Behavior.” Old Research Report 3.53 (2010).

Moller, Mette, and Sonja Haustein. “Peer Influence on Speeding Behaviour among Male Drivers Aged 18 and 28.” Accident Analysis & Prevention 64.1 (2014): 92-99.

Shope, J.T. “Influences on Youthful Driving Behavior and Their Potential for Guiding Interventions to Reduce Crashes.” Injury Prevention 12.1 (2006): 9-14.

Simons-Morton, B. G., Bingham, C. R., Falk, E. B., Li, K., Pradhan, A. K., Ouimet, M. C., Almani, F. & Shope, J. T. (2014). “Experimental effects of injunctive norms on simulated risky driving among teenage males.” Health Psychology, 33(7), 616.