More teen drivers died during the first six months of 2012 than the same time in 2011, although overall deaths remain near historic lows, according to a new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association.

The GHSA, a nonprofit that represents highway offices in all 50 states, compiled crash statistics on 16- and 17-year-old drivers from January to June, the latest data available from each state. In total, 240 teenagers were killed behind the wheel, a 19 percent increase from 2011. That's up from 191 in 2010, the lowest in the past 13 years, but far below the 544 teenagers killed in 2002.

Tennessee suffered the most, with 16 teenagers killed, followed by Louisiana (15), Texas (14), and Alabama, Illinois and Kentucky (12 each). Indiana and Tennessee had the highest rises in deaths. Florida and North Carolina saw the greatest declines in teen driver deaths, and amazingly, Washington saw no deaths in the first half of 2012 after having six in 2011.

But statistics being what they are, the GHSA says it's tough to correlate year-over-year changes with specific state policies, given the variety in population, urban and rural areas and weather.

The GHSA did point out several key findings as to why teen driver deaths remain low:

• An increase in Graduated Driver Licensing laws that enact curfews, bar nonfamily passengers and require parental supervision for a set number of hours. All 50 states now have them; most went into effect between 2005 and 2010. However, not all laws are the same or equally stringent.
  
  
• The recession, along with higher gas prices and unemployment, likely led to the first significant decline of teen driver deaths starting in 2008.
  
  
• Cellphone and texting bans in 31 states may have contributed to lower deaths, although the GHSA says this is essentially a guess as not enough studies have confirmed whether people of all ages are actually following the laws.

Of the areas needing improvement, the GHSA said that parents need to be better educated on their legal requirements to train their teens on the road and that driver training needs to be standardized with regard to curriculum and the number of required hours.

If you ask us, we think the lack of U.S. driver training is the No. 1 cause for why teens grow up into such unskilled adult drivers. We've called for $500 driver's licenses in the past -- no doubt an unpopular case to make, but one that if handled responsibly could pay for improved training programs and more law enforcement and force Americans to take driving as a serious, life-threatening privilege rather than a right.

[Source: GHSA]