Move over soccer moms and drug runners. Now that SUVs are heading for junk piles, the latest face of the SUV driver is the American teenager. As Abram Sauer reports at TheAwl, this is not good:

Teens are the most dangerous drivers on the road, with a crash rate double that of 20- to 24-year-olds, three times that of 25- to 29-year-olds, and more than four times that of 30- to 69-year-olds. According to the CDC, auto crashes are the number one cause of death for American teenagers, accounting for more than one in three teen deaths.

Also:

An Allstate Foundation and National Organizations for Youth Safety survey found that 80 percent of teen girls and 58 percent of teen boys text while driving.

One of the unmentioned benefits of Cash for Clunkers is that it may actually save lives. Most of the clunkers getting traded in are, in fact, SUVS:

1. Ford F-Series
2. Ford Explorer
3. Chevrolet C/K/Silverado
4. Jeep Grand Cherokee
5. Dodge Ram

Anyway, the whole article is very much worth reading.

The Great American Teen SUV Death Race [The Awl]
(Thanks, Charles Star!)

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