The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that at age 16, which is the highest risk age for drivers, 48 percent of deaths were passengers and slightly more 16-year-old females were killed as passengers than as drivers.

More females will be a passenger of a male teen driver on prom night than any other time of the year across North America. Speeding, alcohol use, multiple passengers and driving between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. represent the deadliest combination of factors and is the prime recipe for car crashes.

In 2000, 34 percent of male drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding, and 23 percent of speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes were also intoxicated. Between midnight and 3 a.m., 77 percent of speeding drivers involved in fatal accidents were intoxicated.

Parents who want to reduce the risk of their child's involvement in a car crash should do the following:

1. Check your brakes and brake fluid. Teenagers speed the most. While teens are interested in how fast the car can go, parents should be interested in how well the car can stop. Make sure your vehicle is in its best mechanical shape if your teen is taking to the wheel.
2. Limit the number of passengers your teen is allowed to transport. The risk of a car crash goes up exponentially for each passenger added.
3. Be a good role model and do not drink and drive what-so-ever. Teens are very sensitive to hypocrisy and determine their behavior by what they observe in their parent, not by what the parent says. Tell you teen not to drink and drive and lead by example.
4. Insist that your teen and all passengers wear their seat belts and again, lead by example. Parents must wear their seat belts, too.
5. Do not allow your teen to drive after midnight. If transportation is required after midnight, make alternate arrangements. Act as chauffeur, car pool with another parent or arrange for a taxi. It is better that the parent loose one night's sleep than the life of their child.

Remember, the prom comes but one night a year. To be really safe, parents must concern themselves with teen driver safety 365 days a year. Even with prom night occurring in the spring, most fatal car crashes actually occur in the summertime. Safe driving doesn't take a holiday.

To ensure safe driving year round, parents are recommended to participate in safe driving programs such as the I Promise Program. The I Promise Program has parents and teens enter into a mutual safe driving contract and then provides a means for their mutual accountability. The program has been developed with the input of thousands of persons from organizations worldwide.

Parents who want to prepare best for prom night and the other 365 nights of the year can go to the I Promise Web site and print out a registration form.

• Shopping for Your Teen's First Car
• Teens Behind the Wheel
• A Prom Night Plan: Working With Your Child to Avoid the Perils of Drunk Driving
• Talk About It!