Graduated Driver Licensing

In 2008, 6,428 16-20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes. Young drivers have much higher fatal crash rates than other drivers and represent a significant highway safety problem. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of American teenagers ages 15 to 20.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), young drivers are involved in fatal crashes at over twice the rate as drivers aged 21 and older. Teen drivers are far more likely than other drivers to be involved in fatal crashes because they lack driving experience and tend to take greater risks due to their immaturity.

Graduated licensing systems are designed to phase young beginning drivers into full driving privileges while they mature and develop their driving skills, ensuring that initial experience is accumulated under lower-risk conditions. The program has met with great success in various locations worldwide, including Ontario, Canada and New Zealand - where teen driver crash rates decreased by nearly one-third after enactment of GDL. Numerous other states in the U.S. with GDL programs have experienced similar reductions.

While some parents and teens have expressed some objections to GDL programs, most ultimately support them. A survey conducted in California - which has one of the most comprehensive GDL laws - shows that after completing the program, both teens and parents admitted it was not as much of an inconvenience as they had feared. 74% of teens said the passenger restriction did not affect them very much and the majority of parents said that there was, in fact, no inconvenience caused by the passenger and nighttime restrictions. Advocates' own Lou Harris polls indicate extremely high levels of support for GDL among both parents and teens.

A comprehensive graduated driver licensing system consists of a learner's stage, an intermediate stage and an unrestricted driving stage. Optimal provisions of this three-stage system include:

GDL Laws Needed (that meet Advocates' recommendation):
42 states and DC need to raise the minimum age to 16 for a learner's permit
4 states need a 6-month holding period
12 states need 30-50 hours of supervised driving
41 states and DC need a nighttime driving provision
23 states need a passenger restriction
35 states need a cell phone restriction (inlcuding text messaging)
38 states need to raise the minimum age to 18 for an unrestricted license

 

TEEN CRASH FACTS

In 2008, 6,428 people were killed in crashes involving young drivers ages 15-20. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, 2009)

2,739 young drivers ages 15-20 were killed in 2008 and 1,654 were passengers of young drivers. The remaining 2,035 victims were pedestrians, other drivers and passengers in the other vehicles involved in crashes with young drivers. (NHTSA, 2009)

Fatal crash rates per mile driven are twice as high for 16 year olds as it is for 18-19 year olds. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - IIHS, 2008)

Sixteen-year-olds have almost ten times the crash risk of drivers age 30-59 and almost 3 times the risk of older teenagers. (Williams, A.F., 1996)

Twenty-five (25%) of young drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2008 had a BAC above .08 percent. (NHTSA, 2009)

In 2008, 41 percent of the young drivers who were killed in crashes were unrestrained. (NHTSA, 2009)

The greatest incidence of teenage motor vehicle crashe deaths occur from 9pm to midnight. (IIHS, 2008)

In 2001, the estimated economic cost of police-reported crashes involving drivers between 15 and 20 years old was $42.3 billion. (NHTSA, 2002)

GRADUATED DRIVER LICENSING LAW FACTS

In 1997, the first full year of its GDL system, Florida experienced a 9% reduction in fatal and injury crashes for 15-17 year-olds, compared with 1995. (IIHS, 1999)

Researchers examined GDL systems implemented in 1997 in Michigan and North Carolina, which were considered among the country's most comprehensive programs. Comparing 1999 with 1996 data, crashes involving 16-year-old drivers decreased by 25% in Michigan and 27% in North Carolina. (Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001)

In California, the alcohol-related crash rate of 16-year-olds dropped 16 percent in the first year after the GDL law took effect and 13 percent in the second year when compared with the crash rate of 16-year-olds before the law was in place. (Automobile Club of Southern California, 2002)

In California, teenage passenger deaths and injuries resulting from crashes involving 16-year-old drivers declined by 40 percent statewide from 1998 through 2000, the first three years of the program. In addition, the number of at-fault collisions involving 16-year-old drivers decreased by 24 percent. (Automobile Club of Southern California, 2001)

Oregon's GDL system was particularly effective with male teen drivers. Those who completed the GDL system experienced 16% fewer crashes during their first year of driving compared to those who had not received their license under the GDL system. (NHTSA, 1998)

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the IIHS have found that passenger restrictions for young drivers could save hundreds of lives each year. If 100% of teen drivers drove by themselves, rather than riding with other young drivers, 275 lives could be saved each year. (IIHS, 1999)

A 2001 Harris Poll shows nearly unanimous support (95%) for at least 30 to 50 hours of practice driving with an adult and an equally large majority (92%) responding in favor of a six month holding period. In addition, a three-to-one majority (74% to 23%) supports limiting the number of teen passengers in the car with a teen driver and supervised driving during high-risk periods, such as nighttime.

January 2010