Graduated drivers licensing programs reduce fatal teen crashes. NIH-funded studies show limits on night driving, teen passengers, further reduces deaths.
Programs that grant privileges to new drivers in phases — known as graduated licensing programs — dramatically reduce the rate of teen driver fatal crashes, according to three studies funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Such graduated licensing laws were adopted by all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1996 and 2011. The NIH-supported research effort shows that such programs reduced the rate of fatal crashes among 16- 17-year-olds by 8 to 14 percent.
Reductions in fatal crashes were greatest in states that had enacted other restrictions on young drivers. The greatest reductions in young driver crashes were seen in states that had adopted graduated driver licensing laws in combination with mandatory seat belt laws or laws requiring a loss of the driver’s license as a penalty for possession or use of alcohol by youth aged 20 or younger.
