Scientific Research on Graduated Driver Licensing Verifies Reduction To Teenage Drivers' Risk

2/18/2003

From: Bill Combs of the National Safety Council, 202-974-2491, 240-447-2336 cell, combsb@nsc.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 -- A series of research papers printed in the current edition of the Journal of Safety Research confirm that there is a compelling case for graduated driver licensing (GDL), the system of laws and practices that gradually introduce young drivers into the driving population. "This comprehensive review of the available research is convincing evidence that GDL has resulted in substantial reductions in crashes, injuries and fatalities for novice teenage drivers," announced Alan C. McMillan, President of the National Safety Council.

The collection of 12 scientific papers and other presentations are the printed proceedings of a recent symposium that brought together leading researchers and acknowledged experts from the United States and other countries to explore the various issues of GDL. The National Safety Council sponsored the November 2002 symposium and publishes the Journal of Safety Research.

"The symposium to document the science of GDL and these printed proceedings are an important and necessary milestone in the evolution and adoption of these proven highway safety practices," said McMillan. "After more than a decade of broad experience in a variety of states and other countries, it was important that we gathered the scientists and their science together in one place, and establish a solid scientific basis for further advocating and implementing GDL laws and practices."

The collection of papers documents both the substantially higher risk and collision rates for teenage drivers, and the benefits that have been realized from provisions of graduated driver licensing. Graduated licensing provides for an apprenticeship of planned and monitored practice, followed by an intermediate license that places temporary restrictions on situations that pose the greatest risk to young and inexperienced drivers.

"The elevated risk to teenage drivers and their teenage passengers is well documented," said Dr. Allan Williams, chief scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "The symposium and these printed proceedings now provide a collective body of research evidence about GDL that is consistently encouraging with sometimes dramatic results." Williams' paper was the keynote presentation at the symposium. He served as the editor of the special edition of the Journal of Safety Research.

Key provisions of GDL systems address the most prevalent risks experienced by novice teenage drivers: a learner's permit phase that includes more time and more structure, and an intermediate license phase that includes nighttime restrictions and passenger restrictions.

An extended and more structured period of supervised practice is required during the initial or "learner's permit" phase of the driving experience to address the extraordinarily high-risk that teen drivers experience as they begin to drive on their own. One in five 16-year-old drivers experience a collision in their first year of driving, with the crash rate highest in the first month of licensure. The crash risk among 16-year-old drivers is almost three times as high as among more experienced 18- to 19-year-old drivers.

A provisional license or an intermediate stage, restricts, for a period of time, recently licensed teens from unsupervised driving in two well documented high-risk situations - driving at night, and driving with teen passengers. Restrictions are removed gradually and systematically in a step-by-step manner as the novice driver improves on the driving task and finally earns full and unrestricted driving privileges. Exemptions are frequently incorporated to accommodate necessary driving needs for jobs, religious activities and family situations.

The presence of teenage passengers is a particularly high-risk situation for inexperienced teen drivers -- the crash risk increases markedly with one, two or three or more passengers. Just one teen passenger increases the crash risk by 50 percent, and with three or more teen passengers the crash risk approaches four times greater than while a teenager is driving alone.

Nighttime driving -- the hours between 9 p.m. and midnight -- have a sharply higher risk for teen drivers and teen passengers in both crash risk and a high frequency of fatalities. While only 15 percent of the total miles of 16- to 17-year-old drivers occur between 9 pm and 6 am, about one-third of their fatal crashes take place during those hours. Fatal crash risks for 16- and 17-year-old drivers are nearly three times higher between 10 pm and midnight than during daytime and early evening hours.

"Unfortunately, some GDL legislation is 'in name only' and fails to incorporate what are clearly effective elements of a system," said Dr. Herb Simpson, President of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation in Ottawa Canada. "Obtaining a driver's license is a virtual rite-of-passage for many teens and their families, and legislators are hesitant to enact laws that delay or restrict that event."

"Too often, GDL programs are not structured carefully enough to take advantage of the potential benefits and provide the available protection from high risk driving situations. As a result, these programs will likely be less effective than they could be," said Dr. Rob Foss, Senior Research Scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. "Common weaknesses are nighttime driving restrictions that begin well past the critically important hours of 9 pm to 11 pm; passenger restrictions that allow two or three teenage passengers and miss the effective limit of only one, or none; or the age requirement to supervise learning drivers is set too young to ensure the desired protective effect."

Legislation to implement or strengthen existing GDL systems is considered in several state legislatures each year. "AAA clubs in more than a dozen states are working this legislative session to strengthen teen driving laws in their state," said Elizabeth Vermette, Director of State Relations at AAA. The National Safety Council will distribute copies of the Journal of Safety Research to more than 450 state legislative leaders in all 50 states.

"How we improve compliance with the best practices that are known to reduce the risks to young drivers is very much a focus of the research agenda for the near future," explained Williams. "Many of the papers at the symposium and much of the discussion addressed how law enforcement and other public agencies, and especially, how parents, and indeed teens themselves understand, enforce and increase compliance with these protective provisions."

Dr. Bruce Simons-Morton, chief of the Prevention Branch at the National Institute of Child Health and Development, is conducting research on how much parents and teens understand teen driving risks, their willingness to adopt the elements of GDL and restrict early teen driving to less dangerous driving conditions, and how best to communicate these issues to the family. "While most parents apply some restrictions at the time their children first begin to drive unsupervised, few parents apply restrictions that are sufficiently strict or maintain them long enough to provide much crash protection," said Simons-Morton.

The Simons-Morton paper points out that among the many influences on a teen driver's behavior and attitudes, their parents are still most likely to have the greatest influence on a teen driver, and parents are the most likely to teach driving skills and supervise their teen's early driving experience. Most states require a parent's permission for an underage driver to apply for or retain a license, and parents are the most able to set rules, monitor behavior and enforce restrictions while teenagers gain important experience behind the wheel.

"We know now, and we have the evidence, that GDL can be and is successful." said Chuck Hurley, vice president of the Transportation Safety Group at the National Safety Council. "We will continue to study that success and learn even more, but the very important next step is to better understand and dramatically improve compliance with these known life-saving practices, however that compliance can be realized.

"We are aware that implementing GDL may bring disappointment and sometimes inconveniences, but our objective is not to write more tickets, prohibit teens from driving or get in the way of family mobility. We know how we can reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities. We know how we can save families and society money. We know how we can spare families, high schools and communities painful and numbing tragedies. And we should do that," Hurley concluded.

The GDL edition of the Journal of Safety Research can be accessed at www@nsc.org.