Main Points

• Emergency physicians see firsthand the tragic consequences of young drivers involved in traffic crashes and dedicated to preventing injuries.

• The American College of Emergency Physicians advocates for graduated drivers licensing programs.

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 20.

• Factors contributing to high crash rates among young people include lack of driving experience, inadequate driving skills, excessive nighttime driving, risk-taking behavior, poor driving judgment and decision making, drinking and driving and distractions from teen passengers.

• Everyone is only one step away from a medical emergency.
  

What is graduated licensing?

Graduated licensing (GDL) is the gradual introduction of young drivers into the driving population. Having a graduated system enables a beginning driver to spend time developing skills under relatively safe driving conditions, and as experience is acquired, move on to the next level. Easing young drivers into the traffic environment through more controlled exposure to progressively more challenging driving experiences can reduce their traffic crashes.

The three stages of a GDL system include components and restrictions to introduce driving privileges. Stage 1 involves obtaining a learner’s permit, Stage 2 involves obtaining an intermediate (provisional) license, and Stage 3 involves full licensure.

Is there a correlation between teenage driving and traffic crashes?

• Yes. A significant percentage of young drivers are involved in traffic crashes and are twice as likely as adult drivers to be in a fatal crash. Sixteen-year-old drivers have crash rates three times greater than 17-year-old drivers, five times greater than 18-year-old drivers, and twice the rate of 85-year-old drivers. Approximately thirteen percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes are teens.
  
• In 2008, 12 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes were between the ages of 15 and 20 years old. Driver fatalities for this age group increased by five percent between 1994 and 2008. For young men, driver fatalities rose by five percent, compared with a three percent increase for young women.
  
• In 2008, about 3,500 teens in the U.S. aged 15-19 were killed and more than 350,000 were treated in emergency departments of motor-vehicle crash related injuries.

Does ACEP support graduated licensing?

Yes because it will save lives and prevent injuries. All beginner drivers are inexperienced and therefore at higher risk of crashes. It takes years to become a good driver, and errors are more likely to occur in the early stages of driving. Driver education also does not teach teenagers to drive, but provides the most basic information and practice for operating a vehicle.

Beginner drivers need practice under relatively safe conditions before moving on to more demanding driving situations. Demonstrated skill on a performance test (such as a driver's license test) is not an adequate substitute for accumulated experience.

How many states have graduated licensing systems?

Although licensing practices vary from state-to-state, 44 states and the District of Columbia as of January 2006 had graduated licensing programs with three-stage systems. No state has a GDL law with all of the components recommended by NHTSA. States with two-stage systems that lack an intermediate stage are Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

How effective is graduated licensing?

Evaluations clearly show the benefits of adopting GDL laws and components. Florida’s GDL law resulted in a 9-percent reduction in crashes for drivers who were 16 and 17 years old. Ongoing research in Michigan and North Carolina has shown a 26-percent and 25-percent reduction, respectively, in crashes involving 16-year-old drivers. Ohio has shown similar positive results. Components adopted in the late 1970s and early 1980s also had positive effects. For instance, California reported a 5-percent reduction in crashes and a 10-percent reduction in traffic convictions for 16- and 17-year-old drivers, while Oregon saw a 16-percent reduction in crashes for male drivers age 16 and 17.

Nova Scotia reported a 24-percent reduction in crashes involving 16-year-old drivers while a preliminary report from Ontario, Canada, cites a 31-percent reduction in crashes for all drivers 15 to 19 years old.

What about waiting until a child is age 17 or 18 to get a driver's license?

Simply waiting until a child is older does not make that person a good driver. Passage of time is no substitute for practice. Although maturity makes some difference, inexperience is the major problem of beginning drivers. New drivers of any age make more mistakes at the beginning than they do at later stages.

What else can be done to make sure a teenager becomes a safe driver?

Prohibit young passengers when a teen first starts to drive solo. Passengers can create difficult driving situations, ones that most teenage drivers are not able to handle. It also is important to know with whom a child is riding and whether the driver is fully qualified. Adults can set a good example. Always use a seat belt and insist that children do too. Obey speed limits. Never drink and drive.

In addition, ACEP cautions all drivers of the dangers of talking on a cell phone and/or texting while driving. 

• New research findings by NHTSA that show nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver, and more than half a million were injured.
• On any given day in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. Driver distraction was reported to have been involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008 according to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
• The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group—16 percent of all under-20 drivers in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving.