As National Teen Driver Safety Week approaches, parents may be more mindful of the dangers their teenagers face when they are on the road. According to new research released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, when teenage drivers in Illinois and the rest of the country have only other teenagers as passengers in their vehicle, the fatality rates for everyone who is in a crash jumps to 51 percent.

The same report revealed that when the vehicles contain a teenage driver and passengers who are at least 35 years old, the fatality rate for crashes will drop by 8 percent. The AAA states that research indicates how very important it is for teenage drivers to have a sufficient amount of supervised driving training.

According to the researchers, the fatality rates for the occupants of other vehicles and for the teenage drivers increased by 56 and 45 percent, respectively, in cases in which teenage drivers had other teenage passengers. Teenage drivers who have only teenage passengers also presented an increased danger to cyclists and pedestrians, whose fatality rates rose by 17 percent.

The executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety states that the research indicates that in crashes that involve teenage drivers who have only teenage passengers, it is the other road users who make up the larger share of the fatalities. The research also showed that factors such as speeding or nighttime driving increased the fatality rates in crashes that involved teenage drivers.

In 2016, over 1 million motor vehicle crashes involving teenage drivers were reported. The crashes resulted in over 3,200 fatalities. A personal injury attorney may work to obtain financial compensation for clients who have been injured in an accident. Lawsuits may be filed against the parties whose negligent driving behavior caused internal injuries or death.