A new study finds the risk of there being a fatal accident greatly increases when a teenage driver lets other teens ride along. The study found a 17-year-old is 48-percent more likely to die in a crash if one other teen is in the car. With two passengers, a deadly crash is 158-percent more likely and with three or more teen passengers, it’s 207 percent. Researchers point to foolishness & distractions. Des Moines pediatrician Dr. Debra Bixler tries to talk about character issues when she’s doing checkups, but she doubts they listen.The death rate was 21 times higher during the early morning hours and they were also higher for male teen drivers. Dr. Bixler says moms & dads can still set the best examples for teen drivers and she hopes parents might take the study to heart & keep closer tabs.The study from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore was published in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association.
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