Forty-one Massachusetts teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 died as vehicle occupants in crashes from 2018 through 2023, and 2023 alone accounted for a six-year high of 12 of those deaths. That grim tally comes from a newly released state report examining why so many young people are dying on Massachusetts roads, and what might stop the trend before it gets worse.
The findings come from the Massachusetts Child Fatality Review Program's FY25 Annual Report, according to mass.gov. As reported by Boston 25 News, teenagers aged 15 to 17 accounted for the largest share of child motor-vehicle fatalities in Massachusetts during that six-year stretch, and the report singles out driver education and the junior operator license period as key opportunities to prevent future deaths.
Who Was Behind the Wheel
Of the teens who died, 23 were driving at the time of the crash, and 17 of those young drivers held a junior operator license, the station's report notes. Eight more Massachusetts teenagers died as passengers in vehicles driven by someone else holding a junior operator license, underscoring that the risk extends beyond the driver's seat to everyone riding along.
Massachusetts already restricts nighttime driving, passengers and cellphone use for young drivers under its junior operator law, per the same account. State law specifically bars anyone under 18 from holding or using a mobile phone or other electronic device while driving on a public way, according to Massachusetts General Laws. The same statutory framework also allows the registrar to exempt a junior operator from passenger restrictions if that teen is an emancipated minor, according to Massachusetts General Laws.
Longstanding Risks and New Dangers
The FY25 report identified nighttime driving, speeding, low seatbelt use and inexperience as longstanding risk factors behind teen crashes, the article notes. It also flagged distracted driving, cannabis-impaired driving and drowsy driving as evolving challenges that complicate efforts to keep young drivers safe.
Massachusetts Child Advocate Marisol García said learning to drive gives young people independence and access to school, work, family and community. She added that teenagers need more support to master driving, a point that frames the report's central recommendations: more driver education, behind-the-wheel instruction and stronger enforcement of junior operator license restrictions.
Why Public Transit Is Part of the Fix
Beyond classroom and road instruction, the report also calls for expanding safe and affordable public transportation options for teenagers. The goal, per the report, is ensuring driving isn't a teenager's only way to get around, particularly at night and during snow or severe weather when road conditions are most dangerous.
That recommendation lands against a broader backdrop of rising young-driver fatalities statewide. During the first eight months of 2025, 22 people under age 21 were killed while operating a car, truck or motorcycle in Massachusetts, according to WGBH. That figure was 80% higher than the yearly average for the same eight-month period over the previous decade, putting the state on track to surpass the 24 young-driver deaths recorded in 2022, WGBH reported.
WGBH also found that seven of the 18 young drivers who died in Massachusetts between January and July 2025 were not wearing seatbelts. AAA Northeast spokesman Mark Schieldrop told the outlet that about 35% of all teen crashes involve speeding, echoing the risk factors the state's child fatality review identified among younger teens specifically.
What Past Enforcement Changes Suggest
There is evidence that stricter enforcement can move the needle. A study examining Massachusetts's graduated licensing law found that after the state implemented a package of changes, including stringent penalties, mandatory driver education, and other restrictions and penalties, the crash rate for 16- and 17-year-old drivers relative to drivers 20 and older fell 19.1% for all crashes, 39.8% for crashes causing a fatal or incapacitating injury, and 28.8% for nighttime crashes, according to research indexed on PubMed. That earlier pattern underscores the logic behind the new report's push for stronger enforcement of junior operator restrictions alongside expanded education and transportation access for Massachusetts teens.
