The number of fatalities stemming from crashes involving young drivers in New York state hit its highest point since 2013 last year, a study from AAA Northeast found. The study was released as part of National Teen Driver Safety Week, which runs from Oct. 15-21.

In 2022, 124 people died from crashes that involved 16-20-year-old drivers. In 2013, 139 were killed. The increase over recent years is consistent with the nationwide rise in deaths from crashes involving young drivers, AAA said.

AAA Northeast analyzed young driver crash data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research, finding 46,420 drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 were involved in crashes in New York last year — equivalent to one crash every 12 minutes. The top five contributing factors to the crashes, according to AAA Northeast, were tailgating, failing to yield the right-of-way, distracted driving, passing or changing lanes and driving at an unsafe speed.

The majority of people killed and injured in young driver crashes weren’t young drivers, AAA Northeast said. Of the 124 people killed in young driver crashes last year, 44 were passengers, 24 were pedestrians, two were cyclists and 19 were drivers of other cars.

“Teen driver crashes affect everybody on the road,” said Patti Artessa, AAA Northeast’s director of public affairs outreach. “Parents and caregivers play a critical role in making sure young drivers learn in a safe environment."

AAA says parents should communicate that teen drivers need to wear a seat belt, have a limited number of teen passengers in the car and should consider signing a parent-teen driving agreement that lays down ground rules.