"There is no shame or disgrace in being inexperienced. It's just a fact of life," Ginsburg said. "Until you gain that experience, everything is more dangerous," he said.
Driver distractions mixed with inexperience are dangerous, Ginsburg added, and "alcohol mixed with inexperience is truly deadly," he said.
In addition, only 10 percent of teens recognized that having passengers in the car was potentially hazardous, but nearly two-thirds (64 percent) said they often traveled with other teen passengers. Many more believed that only passengers who "act wild" or "dance or sing" posed a risk.
Most teens didn't think cell phones were risky, unless they evoked certain strong emotional responses.
The researchers also found differences among subgroups of teens. For example, white teens tended to think speeding was less risky (although it commonly occurred) compared to black or Hispanic youths.
However, black and Hispanic teens viewed drinking while driving as less risky than white teens did. And more black and Hispanic teens said that their peers sometimes drank while driving, compared with white teens.
There is a solution for inexperienced drivers, Ginsburg said. "That solution is graduated driver's licenses, where exposures to dangerous situations are minimized while teens continue to gain experience," he said. "Making sure the kids learned one step at a time, until they gain experience, will save many lives."
Graduated driver's licenses limit teens from driving during certain times of the day or carrying young passengers. These restrictions can be state-mandated or enforced by parents, Ginsburg said.
Listening to teens can help in learning how to communicate better with them, Ginsburg added. "When we know how teenagers think and we use their understanding of what is dangerous to help them understand how to be safer, we might get our messages across much more effectively," he said.
Another expert agreed.
"Parents of teen drivers often finding themselves saying to them: 'What were you thinking?'" said Dr. Karen Sheehan, medical director of Injury Prevention and Research at Children's Memorial Hospital and medical director of Injury Free Coalition for Kids in Chicago.
"Thanks to this paper, we are beginning to understand how teens perceive risk of motor vehicle crashes," Sheehan said. "By better understanding the teens' perspective, we can develop safe teen driving messages and interventions that resonate with teens," she said.
More information
For more on teen driving, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
