Indiana leading country in teen driving deaths

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A new study shows a downward trend of traffic deaths involving 16- and 17-year-olds maybe be heading back upward.

The Governors Highway Safety Administration released a report showing traffic crashes involving deaths of 16- and 17-year-olds increased 19% in the first six months of 2012, the most recent data available.

Full data for 2012 will not be available until later this year.

Indiana and Tennessee tied for the top spot in fatalities at 16. Indiana reported three fatal crashes involving 16- and 17-year-olds for the same period in 2011.

Throughout the United States, 240 deaths involving 16- and 17-year-olds were reported from Jan. to June of 2012, an increase of 38 from one year prior.

Six states, including Indiana, saw in an increase of five or more deaths between 2011 and 2012.

Ohio reported nine fatal crashes in 2012, an increase of three from 2011.

The study does not directly link a specific situation to the increase, but notes fatalities decrease across all age groups during an economic downturn. Since the recession of 2008, deaths among 16- and 17-year-olds in traffic crashes steadily decreased, but the study noted they have also declined since 2000.

Traffic laws and awareness of teenagers while driving may be contributing factors to lower death rates, according to the study.