Question: Why is it illegal for teens to drive late at night? With fewer cars on the road it seems like it would be safer.
Answer: The short answer is that teen death rates skyrocket during those hours. There are several reasons for this. One is the lack of driving experience hasn’t exposed young drivers to all the possible hazards they might encounter on the roads and night time driving has its own particular types of hazards. The most obvious hazard is that it’s dark and it’s hard to see things on the road. Another is that there are many more drunks on the road at that time of night and a drunk driver, when confronted with bright lights will tend to drive toward the lights making it difficult to avoid a crash. The third reason is that people are tired and studies show that teens especially, with their busy schedules, don’t get all the sleep they need. Add distracting teen passengers and speed to that mix and the hazards multiply. The graduated driving laws are designed to ease teen drivers into the driving situation and allow them to gain driving experience before being allowed to drive with no restrictions.