Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the US, as young people have limited exposure to diverse driving experience prior to licensing, according to a study.

The AAA Foundation commissioned the UNC Highway Safety Research Center to conduct the study which used in-vehicle cameras to capture teenage drivers and their parents during their supervised driving phase.

About 47% of parents in the study said after the year-long learner’s stage, there was at least one driving condition where they did not feel comfortable letting their child drive.

More than one-third or 37% of these families allowed their teen to obtain a license within a month of being eligible, although a few families restricted driving in certain scenarios.

The average amount of weekly driving among families varied from twenty minutes to almost five hours.

At the end of the year-long study, one in three parents said they didn’t consider their teen ready to drive alone in heavy traffic, while one in five didn’t think their teen was ready to drive alone in the rain.

About 68% of parents reported that opportunities to drive together were limited by the busy schedules of both parents and teens.

The study recommends that parents should assess their teen’s early driving ability in all sorts of conditions and provide extensive training and guidance, and concludes driving in a variety of settings will build competence.