Teens on speed

I tell my daughter: Don't drive the way I did when I was your age.

Massachusetts now has draconian laws to punish teenage drivers for accidents and moving violations. Matt Carroll gives the facts that show why:

Of the state's 4.7 million licensed drivers, about 62,000 are junior operators. Although they were a fraction of the drivers on the road, they were involved in 7 percent of fatal accidents last year and 10 percent the year before.

1.3% of drivers, previously in 10% of fatal accidents. This could be a little misleading; since the Registry counts involvement, not fault, the approximate floor for teens at fault is 5% and almost certainly higher. In any case, junior operators are still very disproportionately involved in wrecks.

In past years, one-third of 16-year-old drivers and about one-fifth of 17-year-olds have been in serious accidents, according to Registry data.

There's no definition of serious, but I would guess it means any accident that involved enough damage that a report was filed. Thirty years ago, I was in both that 1/3 and that 1/5.

This is the kind of reporting I want and need.