Teens Brake on Driving at 16

(NEWSER) - Is 16 too young to drive? A safety group today began a push to encourage states to follow the lead of Japan, China, Russia, and most of Europe by raising the legal age to 18, the Detroit Free Press reports. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for youths aged 15 to 20, and the numbers have been rising over the last decade. More»

(NEWSER) - A horrifying car crash video graphically highlighting the gory dangers of texting behind the wheel has been viewed some 4 million times online. But experts doubt that it will significantly change teen driver behavior, reports the New York Times. The video-gone-viral has been the buzz of schools since it was produced by Welsh officials following teen advice to make it super dramatic. But the screams, dead baby and bloodied faces may not be having an impact. More»

15-year-old said he drove the van because his family had been threatened

(AP) - A 15-year-old South Texas boy has been charged with nine counts of murder after a van he was driving crashed, killing nine of the suspected illegal immigrants packed inside. The boy appeared at a probable cause hearing today, where he was also charged with 17 counts of smuggling a person, among other things. Border Patrol agents had stopped the van last Tuesday, when some of the passengers sprinted away. Agents pursued them on foot, catching one. As the foot chase unfolded, the van sped off. More»

Mistakes gas pedal for brake, won't get license

(NEWSER) - A 34-year-old Pennsylvania man crashed his car into the waiting area of a license exam center yesterday, mere moments after completing his driving test with flying colors. “He thought he had it in park, but he didn’t,” a police sergeant tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . “He panicked and hit the accelerator.” The car careened over the curb and through the glass doors of the building. More»

Oh, and he's been unlicensed since 1977. And couldn't keep right

(NEWSER) - So your blood-alcohol content is 3.5 times the limit and you haven't had a driver's license in 33 years—let's go for a drive! And so a tire falls off—let's keep going 11 miles without it! Western New Yorker Duane Bush is charged with doing just that, along with a bunch of pesky felonies, after another driver called cops after the rear right tire fell off his van and he continued on his merry way, reports the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. The responding cops said Bush also had a hard time staying in the right lane. More»