Tag Archive: gdl laws

Parents are the Key to Teen Driving Safety

April 6, 2010

Imagine your 16-year old, late after his first solo drive — the phone rings and it’s your child, asking you to pick him up. He lets you know that he had an accident. You feel relief that everyone is safe, you bring both the vehicle and your child home. As you begin to understand what happened, you think how could I have prepared my child for this situation.

Having a conversation about how to handle a vehicle emergency is the right start. For many new drivers, more behind the wheel experience in a variety of driving scenarios including adverse weather conditions or driving on the highway can greatly improve their driving skills. In addition making sure that the car is properly maintained should also be a priority.

For many new drivers, parents are the key to teen driving safety.

The first few years are the most dangerous for the new driver. Statistics don’t lie — for nearly a decade, (1995 – 2004) more than 30% of all crashes involved teen drivers. Leading to the creation of the Graduated Driver’s License law, making parents more important in the lives of their teen drivers. These laws allow for a new driver to prove their maturity and trustworthiness.

Depending on what state you live in, your teen driver might need more in-car experience. As mentioned above, various states have a form of the GDL law, requiring up to 50 hours of supervised driving, including 10 hours of night-time driving. To help track and log your teens driving hours you can use a Teen Driving Experience Log Book to track the maneuvers practiced, the weather conditions or even the route.

There is bond that helps children understand a lesson better, if taught by his parents. Please keep this in mind as your child prepares for the responsibility of driving. Remember, parents are the first teachers for most experiences in their teens life.

For additional information on Graduated Drivers License Laws read:

Four Ways Teens Benefit from Following Graduated Drivers License Laws

Teens and Nighttime Single Vehicle Crashes

November 16, 2009

As you read the daily news, a familiar pattern begins to occur. You begin to notice the car crashes that happen at night with only one vehicle involved. Many times, these crashes involve teen drivers.

Is it your imagination? No.

Many typical characteristics of teen crashes are:

Teens are more likely than any other age group to be involved in a single vehicle crash. Among passenger vehicle drivers’ ages 16-19 involved in fatal crashes in 2008, 49 percent were involved in single-vehicle crashes. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
Nighttime fatal crash rates for 16 year olds are nearly twice as high as daytime rates. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
In 2008, 37 percent of the 15- to 20-year-old male drivers who were involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash.

Nighttime driving not only diminishes a driver’s visibility, but also their distance and speed perception, making it harder to judge a situation and respond quickly. Speeding decreases the time and space available to react and increases the severity of any injuries. Many times teenagers react too quickly and overcorrect or lose control of the vehicle, resulting in a single-vehicle crash. Drowsy driving is also more prevalent at night, and teens are especially vulnerable to fatigue and need additional sleep during this developmental time. In addition, other drivers on the road are more likely to be less attentive, drowsy or under the influence at night.

What can be done?

Create and enforce stricter Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL) laws that give teens the privilege of driving but limit their exposure to higher risk situations encountered, by restricting nighttime driving, teen passengers and cell phone use. Experience behind the wheel is best gained in the daytime when accompanied by an experienced adult driver and under ideal driving conditions. GDL has proved successful in reducing crashes and fatalities among teen drivers as they progress to unrestricted driving at age 18.

Teens are ready to drive and need to be given the tools to drive safely. Understand the risk factors that young teen drivers face and place limits on driving privileges until they acquire the valuable experience needed to develop those tools safely.

Four Ways Teens Benefit from Following Graduated Driver Licensing Laws

May 8, 2009

It isn’t uncommon for teens to rebel against Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws. They may reason that since they passed the driving test, they shouldn’t have to deal with restrictions. Or they may be unfamiliar with the GDL laws in their state and violate them unintentionally. But there are many benefits to obeying GDL laws for teens, such as:

1. They’re a chance to prove your maturity and trustworthiness. One of the basic requirements for functioning in our society is the ability to follow the rules. Teens who are unwilling to do so demonstrate a lack of maturity and make other people, specifically adults, think they can’t be trusted. Conversely, showing that you’re willing to abide by certain restrictions lets adults, specifically your parents, know that you are grown-up and dependable enough to handle additional privileges.

2. They can help you get out of risky situations with your pride intact. You may have the best intentions of following GDL laws, but sometimes friends make that a challenge. It might be hard to resist when a friend wants you to break curfew or pile one too many passengers into your vehicle; GDL laws give you an outside authority you can blame for your refusal to do these things. You can explain that you don’t want to get caught breaking the law because you might lose your license and/or your parents might ground you from driving if you get a traffic ticket.

3. They’re the law. You won’t be lying if you tell a friend you are afraid of losing your license for breaking GDL laws; violating the terms of the law could result in the loss of your driving privileges. If you get a ticket for breaking a GDL law, you will have to pay a fine and your insurance rates, which are already high, could increase. After accruing a certain number of points on your license, you could lose it for a specified period of time and have to pay more fines to get it back. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, so be sure to familiarize yourself with the GDL laws in your state.

4. They really do keep you safe. GDL laws exist because statistically, teens get into many more crashes than adult drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), sixteen-year old drivers have crash rates that are about three times greater than 17-year-old drivers, five times greater than 18-year-old drivers, and approximately twice the rate of 85-year-old drivers. We know that GDL laws work, because there has been an overall decrease in fatal crashes involving teens nationally since GDL laws began to be implemented. Specific restrictions have also been found to be effective; for example, an NHTSA study found that states with nighttime driving restrictions for teen drivers show decreases in crashes of up to 60% during the restricted hours. GDL laws work because they help teens increase their driving skills while minimizing the risks of being on the road with limited experience.

You can probably see how these four factors tie together. If you break GDL laws, you show the adults in your life that you can’t be trusted, you are more likely to be peer-pressured into taking risks you know you shouldn’t take, you take a chance on losing your license, and you raise the possibility that you or someone riding with you will be injured or killed in a crash. When you choose to follow GDL laws, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Support for Graduated Driver Licensing Laws

April 30, 2009

According to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), adolescent drivers, especially 16- to 17-year olds, are disproportionately involved in deadly motor vehicle crashes. Sixteen-year old drivers have crash rates that are about three times greater than 17-year-old drivers, five times greater than 18-year-old drivers, and approximately twice the rate of 85-year-old drivers. According to the NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), specific contributors to these higher crash rates include:

Lack of driving experience and skills: Compared with crashes of older drivers, those of 16-year-olds more often involve driver error.
A propensity towards risk taking behavior and poor decision-making.
Driving at night: Per mile driven, the nighttime fatal crash rate for 16-year-old drivers is twice as high as during daytime hours.
Distraction from teenage passengers: Fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers are more likely to take place when other teens are in the vehicle, and the risk increases with every additional passenger.
Speeding: Sixteen-year old drivers have a higher rate of crashes in which excessive speed is a contributing factor.

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) programs help young drivers get driving experience progressively while minimizing risk, beginning with a restricted permit and eventually leading to full licensure.

Most programs include three stages:

Learner Stage: Supervised driving, ending with a road test.
Intermediate Stage: Limiting unsupervised driving in high-risk circumstances.
Full Privilege Stage: A regular driver’s license.

Provisions of graduated licensing laws may include:

Required hours of adult supervision during the learner stage.
Restrictions on late-night driving.
Restrictions on driving with teen passengers.
Seat belt requirements for drivers and passengers.
Restrictions on cellular phone use.
Prohibiting the driver from moving up to the next level due to traffic violations.

GDL laws in most of the states that have them do not comply with all of the recommendations of the NHTSA; still, there has been an overall decrease in fatal crashes nationally since GDL laws began to be implemented. In 2006, 7,463 drivers who were 15 to 20 years old were involved in fatal crashes – an eight percent decrease from 8,074 involved in 1996. Individually, states with GDL laws also show improvement:

California: A five percent decrease in crashes for 16- and 17-year-old drivers.
Florida: A nine percent decrease in crashes for 16- and 17-year old drivers.
Michigan: A 26% decrease in crashes for 16-year-old drivers.
North Carolina: A 25% decrease in crashes for 16-year-old drivers.
Oregon: A 29% decrease in crashes for 16-year-old drivers and a 16% decrease in crashes for 17-year-old drivers.

NHTSA research has also found that the most comprehensive GDL programs are associated with the greatest decrease in crash rates for teen drivers.

It is more difficult to evaluate the individual components of GDL laws because of the overlap of restrictions, but the NHTSA has conducted some research in this area. An analysis of the passenger restriction laws in California, Massachusetts, and Virginia indicated that there were 740, 173, and 454 fewer 16-year-old involved in crashes per year, respectively. A different study found that states with nighttime driving restrictions for teen drivers show decreases in crashes of up to 60% during the restricted hours.

Public support for GDL laws is also strong. In 2007, the NHTSA conducted the Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey (MVOSS), a national telephone survey about driver safety. Seventy-nine percent of the participants said that teen drivers should proceed from a learner’s permit to a provisional license status rather than directly to an unrestricted adult license. The results of the survey also indicated strong support, ranging from 73% to 99%, for specific restrictions on provisional driver license status, such as:

Requiring young drivers to wear a seat belt at all times.
Prohibiting driving after 9pm, unless supervised by an adult.
Limiting the number of teenage passengers allowed in the vehicle.
Prohibiting the use of a cellular phone while driving.
Requiring the new driver to hold the provisional license for at least one year without any traffic violations before receiving an unrestricted adult license.

GDL provisions are still in their infancy in many states, so evaluating the results of these programs is difficult. However, outcomes so far are promising. The enactment of and enforcement of these laws are important steps in efforts to save the lives of young drivers.

Graduated Driver Licensing Laws: A Comparison

April 8, 2009

A national model for Graduated Driver Licensing Programs has existed since the mid 1990s. The model provides guidelines for states to create their own GDL programs. Currently, no state follows all the guidelines, and GDL programs vary widely from state to state.

The recommended guidelines are:

Stage 1: Learner’s Permit

State sets minimum age for a learner’s permit at no younger than age 16;
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 seat belts;
Teenage-passenger restrictions;
Zero alcohol while driving;
Permit is visually distinctive from other driver licenses;
Must remain crash and conviction free for at least six months to advance to next level;
Parental certification of 30 to 50 practice hours; and
No use of portable electronic communication and entertainment devices.

Stage 2: Intermediate (Provisional) License

Completion of Stage 1;
State sets minimum age of 16.5;
Pass a behind the wheel road test;
Completion of advanced driver education training (safe driving decision-making, risk education, etc.)-All occupants must wear seat belts;
Licensed adult required in the vehicle from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. (e.g., nighttime 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: not more than one teenage passenger for the first 12 months of intermediate license. Afterward, limit the number of teenage passengers to two until age 18;
Must remain crash and conviction free for at least 12 consecutive months to advance to the next stage;
Supervised practice; and
No use of portable electronic communication and entertainment devices.

Stage 3: Full Licensure

Completion of Stage 2;
State sets minimum age of 18 for lifting passenger and nighttime restrictions; and
Zero alcohol while driving.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

To understand the range of differences among states, let’s examine the GDL laws of four states: California, Florida, Mississippi, and North Dakota.

The NHTSA recommends that the state sets the minimum age for a learner’s permit at no younger than age 16. In California, the minimum age for a learner’s permit is 15 years, six months; in Florida and Mississippi, the minimum age is 15. The minimum age in North Dakota is 14.

Before getting a license or restricted license in Florida, new drivers must have a mandatory holding period of the learner’s license of twelve months; the other three states require six months. In Mississippi, license applicants age 17 and older are exempt from the holding period. The NHTSA recommends an intermediate (provisional) stage with a minimum age of 16.5. The applicant must remain crash and conviction free for at least six months to advance from the learner’s permit to the intermediate level. They further recommend that in the intermediate license stage, the applicant must remain crash and conviction free for at least 12 consecutive months to advance to full licensure.

The NHTSA recommends parental certification of 30 to 50 practice hours of driving in the learner’s permit stage. While California and Florida each require 50 hours, 10 of which must be at night, neither Mississippi nor North Dakota require certification of any driving practice hours.

Applicants in Mississippi must be age 15 years, six months before getting a license or restricted license. Florida, North Dakota, and California require a minimum age of 16; however, in California, license applicants who do not take driver education must wait until age 18 for a license. The NHTSA recommendation is for full licensure only after completion of the intermediate licensing stage, with a minimum age of 18 for lifting passenger and nighttime restrictions. However, North Dakota does not have any passenger or nighttime restrictions, and Florida and Mississippi have only nighttime restrictions. California’s passenger restriction is that for the first 12 months, the restricted driver may have no passengers younger than 20, with limited exceptions for immediate family.

One way to improve the traffic crash figures for teenage drivers is to advocate for stronger Graduated Driver Licensing requirements in your state. In the meantime, you can reduce the risks for your own children by ensuring that they obey existing GDL laws and by implementing some of the NHTSA’s guidelines into your own house rules if your state has relatively weak GDL laws.