We hate this statistic from AAA, and would like to see it changed, so please, please, be careful driving on July 4th.  

Free from school and homework, teenagers spend more hours behind the wheel in the summer, and four of the days when the most teen fatalities were recorded fall in those months. July 4 tops a list that includes July 9, Aug. 8 and Aug. 14. The end of the school year produced three other dates that made the top 10 — June 10, May 20 and May 23.

“Teen driving goes up by 44 percent during the summertime, and during these months, teens tend to drive more often . . .and they have less parental supervision than they do during the school year,” said John B. Townsend II of AAA. “Nearly a third — 32 percent — of Maryland’s teen driver and passenger deaths happen in the carefree summer months.”

The good news is that teen fatalities have dropped drastically, notably in the Washington area. But they are still the leading cause of death among the youngest drivers. In 2010, 3,115 teenagers ages 13 to 19 died in motor vehicle crashes.

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