The Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found “a 23 percent overall reduction in per-capita crash involvement rate of 16-year old drivers.” In the past most states didn’t require beginning teenage drivers to have very much driving experience before acquiring a license that gave them freedom to drive where and when they wanted. As an example “only 30 states required a learner’s permit, and only 11 required the permit to be held for a minimum period, ranging from 14 days to 90 days.”
There has been a steady change among most states as they “implement meaningful graduated licensing programs.” These programs specifically “phase-in young, beginning drivers to full, unrestricted driving privileges as they mature and develop their skills.” In 1998 California become one of the first states to effect graduated licensing and recently made some changes to the law including “raising the minimum age for a learner’s permit from 15 to 15 1/2, started the nighttime driving restriction at 11p.m. instead of midnight, and extended passenger restrictions to cover the first year of licensure, instead of just the first six months.”
Apparently teenage drivers with teenage passengers in tow increases crash risk significantly according to research by IIHS and other organizations. In 2004 alone “62 percent of teenage passenger deaths occurred in crashes in which another teenager was driving.”
Do you find your new teenage driver easily distracted or taking needless risks?
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