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 that are 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. The factors contributing to these higher crash rates include lack of driving experience and inadequate driving skills; excessive driving during night-time, higher-risk hours; risk-taking and decision making; drinking and driving; and distractions from teenage passengers.

Graduated Driver Licensing System Background

To address these problems, traffic safety researchers developed a licensing system that would prolong the learning process for young novice drivers. Based on this system, NHTSA and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) developed an entry-level driver licensing program to give young drivers more time to learn the complex skills required to operate a vehicle. The program consists of three stages, identified at each stage by the type of license: learner's permit, intermediate (provisional) license. and full licensure. Young drivers are required to demonstrate responsible driving behavior at each stage of licensing before advancing to the next level.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) encourages States to implement a graduated driver licensing (GDL) system. Easing young drivers onto the roadways by controlling their exposure to progressively more difficult driving experiences can reduce the incidence of traffic crashes involving young drivers.

How Does GDL Work?

In the mid-1990s. the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the National Safety Council, the National Transportation Safety Board, and NHTSA met to establish a national model for GDL. By establishing a national model, the various traffic safety groups sought to provide guidelines for states considering a GDL system.

The three stages of the GDL system include specific components and restrictions to introduce driving privileges gradually to beginning drivers, Novice drivers are required to demonstrate responsible driving behavior during each stage of licensing before advancing to the next level.

Each stage includes recommended components and restrictions for States to consider when implementing a GDL system. Examples of components and restrictions of each stage include:

Stage 1: Learner's Permit

• State sets minimum age for a learner's permit.
• Pass vision and knowledge tests. including rules of the road, signs, and signals.
• Completion of basic driver training.
• Licensed adult (who is at least 21 years old) required in the vehicle at all times.
• All occupants must wear safety belts.
• Teenage-passenger restrictions.
• Zero alcohol while driving.
• Permit is visually distinctive from other driver licenses.
• Must remain crash-free and conviction-free for at least six months to advance to the next level.
• Parental certification of practice hours.

Stage 2: Intermediate (Provisional) License

• Completion of Stage 1.
• State sets minimum age.
• Pass a behind-the-wheel road test.
• Completion of advanced driver education training (e.g., safe driving decision-making, risk education, etc).
• All occupants must wear safety belts.
• Licensed adult required in the vehicle during late-night hours (e.g., night-time driving restriction).
• Zero alcohol while driving,
• Driver improvement actions are initiated at lower point level than for regular drivers.
• Provisional license is visually distinctive from a regular license.
• Teenage-Passenger restrictions
• Must remain crash- and conviction-free for at least 12 consecutive months to advance to the next stage.
• Supervised practice.

Stage 3: Full Licensure

• Completion of Stage 2.
• State sets minimum age.
• Zero alcohol while driving.

Which States Have a GDL System?

No State has a GDL law with all of the recommended components. As of January 2006, 44 States and the District of Columbia have three-stage systems. States that have a two-stage system and lack an intermediate stage are Arizona, Arkansas. Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

How Effective Are GDL Systems?

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.