Health Status > Adolescents

ADOLESCENT MORTALITY from traffic and firearm injuries

The two leading mechanisms of injury deaths among adolescents are motor vehicle crashes and firearms. In 2003, motor vehicle traffic caused the deaths of 5,169 adolescents 15-19 years of age. The vast majority of those killed were in motor vehicle accidents either as a passenger or driver. Deaths of pedestrians, motorcyclists, and others accounted for the remainder of motor vehicle mortality among adolescents.
Results of the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey revealed that 18.2 percent of high school students had rarely or never worn seat belts when riding in a car driven by someone else. Additionally, 30.2 percent of students had ridden on one or more occasions with a driver who had been drinking alcohol in the 30 days preceding the survey.
In 2003, 2,469 adolescents aged 15-19 were killed by firearms. Of these, homicide accounted for 65 percent of firearms deaths, suicide accounted for 30 percent, and 4 percent were considered to be unintentional.

> Bar Chart: Adolescent Mortality from Traffic and Firearm Injuries: 2003