Oklahoma City metro area deadly for young drivers

It’s a dangerous season for metro-area teenage drivers, who rank eighth in the nation in statistics that show the highest number of fatal accidents between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

A study by Allstate Insurance Co. shows the Oklahoma City area is one of the deadliest U.S. places for crashes involving teens during the holidays. The company used 2000-07 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission to rank cities with the most deaths.

During the holidays for the past seven years, 26 crashes have claimed the lives of metro teenagers. For every 100,000 teens in the metro area, 3.7 were fatal crash victims.

Melissa Stoloff, spokeswoman for Allstate, said the study is part of the company’s public education campaign for teenage drivers and their parents.

Statewide, 905 teenagers died in crashes from 2000-07, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Chris West said traffic accidents are the No. 1 killer of Oklahomans ages 18 to 25.

West, a father of two teenage boys, advises parents to keep lines of communication open with young drivers and help them develop good habits behind the wheel.

"The scare tactics we had growing up don’t work with kids these days,” West said. "They respond better to information and recommendations — not just someone straight-out telling them what to do.”

The more information they have, the more likely they are to think about the repercussions of taking risks, he said.