While many still believe graduated licence laws are veiled cash grabs invoked by the government to pad the pockets of concerned agencies, studies comparing vehicular deaths involving young teen drivers seem to suggest otherwise.

Following up with our recent post, Study Links Male Teens with ADHD to Traffic Accidents, the Globe and Mail reported a similar study released in February, 2009, with results that imply graduated licence laws actually do work.

The study, conducted by the AAA (American Automobile Association) Foundation of Traffic Safety, compared car crashes connected to teen drivers between 1998 and 2007.

From the Globe and Mail:

“The analysis shows that about one-third of people killed in crashes involving drivers ages 15 to 17 are teen drivers themselves. Nearly two-thirds are passengers, occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users,” it says.

In 2006, a previous analysis of car crashes in the U.S. involving teen drivers found that between 1995 and 2004, crashes involving 15-, 16- and 17-old drivers claimed the lives of 30,917 people, of whom 36.2 per cent were teen drivers and 63.6 per cent were passengers of teen drivers, occupants of other vehicles operated by adult drivers, non-motorists and pedestrians.

This is compared with the more recent analysis of car crashes of 1998 and 2007, where 15-, 16-, and 17-year old drivers killed 28,138 people in the United States. This study concluded that 36.9%  were teen drivers, 63.1% were passengers of teen drivers and 31.4% were occupants of other vehicles operated by adult drivers, non-motorists and pedestrians.

“During the last decade, as states improved their teen licensing systems and AAA has helped parents get more involved, we have seen reductions in teen driver deaths and even larger reductions in the number of other people killed,” Darbelnet [Robert Darbelnet, chief executive officer and president of the American Automobile Association] says. “Clearly, measures put into place to save teen drivers help us all.”

The 51-million-member association is a strong proponent of graduated licensing and says that 49 states fall short of AAA guidelines, which have proven effective in reducing deaths among 16-year-old drivers by 38 per cent.

A report by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation – best practices for graduated licencing in Canada – compared programs in place in this country with those in other jurisdictions. It identified a number of proven components necessary for a multi-staged GDL program including:

• Minimum entry age
• Vision and knowledge testing
• Parental consent under the age of 19
• Minimum duration of 12 months
• Maximum of 24 months before retesting and advancing
• Accompanied by a supervisory driver for a minimum of 50 hours, including 10 at night and 10 in winter conditions
• Professional driver education and training
• Zero BAC (blood alcohol content) – same for the supervisor
• Night restrictions
• Passenger restrictions
• L (learner) sign or plate
• Stiff penalties, suspension and prohibitions for violations of the above.

Inexperienced drivers are most perceptible to distraction is the most pervading reasoning to graduated licensing. The critical relationship between time and distance has yet to be fleshed out in beginner minds, causing them to be especially at risk when closing speeds are outside their parameters of reference.

The AAA, TIRF and other organizations all stress that parental involvement is a key factor in these critical early years at the wheel. Do you believe that graduated licencing allows for a time differentiation where the driver learns enough to avoid crashes? We want to hear from you.