Teen Crashes Fall Since the Advent of Graduated Licensing

This article considers some recent research studies that focused on determining the impact of graduated driver licensing (GDL) on the incidence and severity of crashes involving teenage drivers. A 2007 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that between 1996 and 2005, per capita fatal and non-fatal crash rates dropped sharply for 16-year-olds and also were reduced for 17- and 18-year-olds; the study has now been updated using data from government crash databases, Census Bureau data, and National Household Travel Surveys through 2008 to compare rates for drivers ages 16-19 years and drivers ages 30-59 years. This update determined that the per capita rates of fatal and police-reported crashes among teens fell steadily from 1996 to 2012. The author explores the changes particularly in fewer fatalities at night and with two or more teenage passengers, determining that the reductions in these crashes are associated with GDL systems. A separate study, published in Injury Prevention in 2014, found that teens who were exposed to graduated driver licensing are in fewer crashes, both because they drive less and because they crash less often when they do have the opportunity to drive. This study found that GDL laws cut fatal crash rates for 16-year-old drivers by about a third; for older teens, GDL reduces crash rates by about 17%. Readers are referred to the full studies, available at publications@iihs.org.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/6/2
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0018988X
• Publication Date: 2014-7-30

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: pp 6-7
• Serial:
  • Status Report
  • Volume: 49
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
  • ISSN: 0018-988X
  • Serial URL: https://www.iihs.org/status-report/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age groups; Crash injuries; Fatalities; Graduated licensing; Laws; Recently qualified drivers; Teenage drivers
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01547722
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 15 2014 1:25PM