(The following article is reproduced, with permission, from the web site of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety at http://www.saferoads.org/.)

In 1997, nearly 42,000 people were killed in traffic crashes and almost 3.4 million more were injured, at a cost of over $150 billion. Young drivers have a much higher fatal crash rate than other drivers and represent a significant highway safety problem. More than a third of the teenagers age 16-19 who died in 1996 (the most recent year for which this information is available) were killed in traffic crashes.

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 is a system of driver licensing that is effective in reducing young driver crash fatalities. It is designed to introduce young drivers to the driving experience gradually, by phasing in full driving privileges over time and in lower-risk settings.

Graduated licensing consists of a learner’s stage, an intermediate driving stage and an unrestricted driving stage. Twenty-four states have adopted some features of graduated licensing; a smaller number have adopted all of the key components, including nighttime driving restrictions, limits on teenage passengers and required supervised driving during the intermediate stage. Many more states now actively are considering a graduated licensing system.

Teen Crash Facts

• In 1997, 5,477 young people age 15-20 died in motor vehicle crashes, including 3,336 young drivers. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
• Based on estimated miles travelled annually, teen drivers age 16-19 have a fatality rate four times the rate of drivers age 25-69. (NHTSA)
• Young people age 15-20 represent less than seven percent of the total driving population, but they are involved in 14 percent of all fatal traffic crashes. (NHTSA)
• Sixteen-year-olds have almost ten times the crash risk of drivers age 30- 59. (Williams, A.F., 1996)
• Twenty-one percent of young drivers involved in fatal crashes in 1997 were drinking alcohol. (NHTSA)
• Over 60 percent of young people age 16-20 who were killed in passenger vehicle crashes in 1997 were not wearing seat belts. (NHTSA)
• Sixty-two percent of teenage passenger deaths take place when another teen is driving the vehicle. (NHTSA)
• Forty-one percent of fatal crashes involving teenagers occur at night (between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.). (NHTSA)

Graduated Licensing Facts

• In 1997, the first full year of its graduated licensing system, Florida experienced a nine percent reduction in fatal and injury crashes for 15-17 year-olds, compared with 1995. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• In Ontario, Canada, where graduated licensing took effect in 1994, preliminary results show the crash rate for drivers age 16-19 declined 27 percent in 1995 compared to 1993. (Interim report, Toronto, Ontario: Ministry of Transportation, 1998)
• In the most effective graduated licensing systems, the intermediate driving stage features no unsupervised driving before age 161/2; no unsupervised night driving beginning as early as 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.; limits on teenage passengers; no graduating to a full license before age 18; and an exit test prior to full licensure. (IIHS and Traffic Injury Research Foundation of Canada)