Driver crash involvement
*the most serious threat to the lives and health of adolescents and emerging adults across industrialized countries
*Age 16-24: highest rate of automobile accidents, injuries, and fatalities of any age group
*Adolescents are more likely to report driving under the influence of alcohol à nearly ½ of American college students report driving while intoxicated within the past year
*Younger people are less likely to wear seatbelts
Substance use
*43% of American high school seniors used alcohol and 28% reported binge driving (five or more alcoholic drinks in a row) at least once in the past month
*20% of high school seniors reported using cigarettes (2008)
*Substance abuse is highest among Native Americans & African American and Asian American adolescents the lowest
*Peak of substance abuse comes in emerging adulthood
*Studies show that substance use of all kinds continues to rise through the late teens, peaks in the early 20s, then declines in late 20s
*Higher propensity (motivation for behaving defiantly) and opportunity for substance use during adolescence than young adults
Crime
*The great majority of crimes are committed by young people (mostly males) between the ages of 12 and 25
*Over 3/4 of adolescents commit at least one criminal act before the age of 20
*10% of young people commit over 2/3 of all offenses
*Adolescent and emerging adult males are more likely than children or adults to commit crimes as well as to be the victims of crime