The first time your teen gets behind the wheel marks a pivotal moment in life, signaling the first step toward true independence and adulthood. As a parent, you naturally have concerns about teenage driving and safety. If and when your teenage driver gets into an accident, do you know who you can trust to get the compensation you deserve? Battling with the insurance can be frustrating enough, but adding a teenage driver into the mix, makes everything more complicated.

A 2016 IIHS study of high school drivers revealed that distracted driving, especially texting and emailing, is way up. But contrary to what you might expect, teen driving deaths are down overall. So should we be concerned or excited? Let’s check out those IIHS stats and find ways to keep our teen drivers safe behind the wheel.

• Teen driving fatalities are down 64% since 1975.
• 3,092 fatalities, and 416,000 injuries resulted from teenage distracted driving in 2015.
• From 2010 to 2012, 170 teenagers died in motor vehicle crashes on Mississippi roadways.
  • Out of those, 107 were not wearing seat belts.
• 1 out of 3 deaths among US teens are the result of a motor vehicle crash.
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the US.
• Car crashes are the number one killer of children 1 to 12 years old in the US.
• Each year, more than 5,000 teens (ages 16-20) are killed in passenger vehicle crashes.
• Teenage drivers and passengers are among those least likely to wear their seat belts.