Objective: This paper evaluates how inexperience with the driving task combined with risky driving practices associated with immaturity contribute to the fatal crashes of 16-year-old drivers. Methods: Detailed information was obtained about nighttime fatal crashes of 16-year-old drivers in California during 1989-1994 using police reports and newspaper accounts. A brief narrative was preared for each crash to determine the factors that led to the crash and the crash circumstances. Results: Analysis of U.S. data indicates that the crashes of 16 year-olds are more often single-vehicle events, involve speeding and higher passenger occupancy rates (often other teenagers), and are more likely to result from driver error. Narrative descriptions illustrate the contributing events leading up to the crash and how aggressive driving, driver inexperience, and interaction with passengers can heighten the potential for a crash. Conclusion: Graduated licensing, a system that allows for the initial accumulation of driving experience under less hazardous conditions, would prohibit recreational, nighttime driving that is particularly dangerous for young, beginning drivers.