Home by 11: The Effect of Juvenile Curfews on the Health of Teenagers

The leading cause of death for teenagers between the ages of 12 and 19 years is unintentional injury. When this category is further broken down, it is seen that 73% of these fatal unintentional injuries are motor vehicle accidents (Miniño, 2010). Furthermore, 40% of fatal crashes experienced by 16 and 17 year olds occur between the hours of 9 PM and 6 AM (Williams & Preusser, 1997). Juvenile curfew laws make it illegal for minors to be in public spaces during specific hours of the night. Most commonly, these hours fall within the range of 9 PM and 6 AM. Thus, the high rate of fatal crashes due to nighttime driving by inexperienced drivers aims to be decreased by prohibiting minors from driving during these hours. As an added effect, curfew laws restrict minors from being out after certain hours of the night in an effort to reduce the amount of crime committed by minors during certain hours of the night. However, there has been much controversy over the efficacy of juvenile curfew laws and the implications that they have for reducing the amount of teenage deaths due to unintentional injury.