The 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day are considered the deadliest period of the year for teen drivers, according to a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researcher.

Car crashes among teens rise by 30 percent during that stretch and they remain a top cause of death among teenagers year-round.

Johnathon Ehsani, a researcher with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said inexperience is only part of the problem.

"Their brains are still developing, and they have more difficulty calibrating risk, frankly," Ehsani said.

Teens between the ages of 16 and 19 have a fatal crash rate almost three times higher than drivers aged 20 and older per mile driven.

Several factors raise the risk even further, including not wearing a seat belt, distracted driving, speeding, substance use and having teenage or young adult passengers in the car.

"In addition, driving late at night, particularly between 9 p.m. and midnight, is associated with an elevated crash risk," Ehsani said.

"That's when teens drive more, they have more free time, and they're often driving in higher risk conditions," Ehsani said.

Parents can help by monitoring their teen's driving, setting clear rules and expectations like always wearing a seat belt, not using a phone while driving and not driving with other young people in the car.

Picking a vehicle with safety features also matters. "Crashes are predictable, they're painful, but they're preventable," Ehsani said.