Posted on: Friday, February 25, 2005
Stricter license laws save young lives, study says
By Elizabeth Williamson
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Car crashes among the youngest, most accident-prone drivers decreased sharply in the decade after most states enacted laws limiting their access to a driver's license, a study shows. Hawai'i's Legislature is considering such a law.
Auto deaths involving 16-year-old drivers fell 26 percent from 1993 to 2003, a period when 46 states and the District of Columbia enacted graduated licensing laws that allow fewer 16-year-olds to drive, according to the study released yesterday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Among 16-year-olds who have full driving privileges, the rate of fatal crashes hasn't fallen, and remains higher than that of any age group. Researchers said the difference between the two groups points to the effect of the new laws, which keep most 16-year-olds from receiving unrestricted licenses and which are intended to curb risky practices, such as carrying teenage passengers and driving at night.
The study shows that "withholding a license is going to improve the crash picture among 16-year-olds," said Susan Ferguson, senior vice president for research at the institute and an author of the study. "That's a success story, because the fewer of them who drive, the fewer of them who die."
Hawai'i is one of 18 states that have not implemented a full, three-staged graduated license system. A bill died in the Legislature last year, but a similar measure, Senate Bill 428, is making its way through the Legislature this year and will be heard by the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee at 9 a.m. today.
The measure would call for teenagers under 18 to be issued a "provisional" license requiring them to have a licensed parent or guardian in the car when driving between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. with limited exceptions.
The Department of Health supports the intent of the bill, particularly the restriction on late-night driving. From 1999 to 2003, 42 percent of fatal crashes in Hawai'i involving drivers between 16 and 17 years old occurred from 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., said Dr. Chiyome Fukino, department director.
"Young, novice drivers have an extremely high crash risk for many reasons, primarily a combination of immaturity and inexperience," Fukino said in testimony before the Senate Transportation Committee earlier this month. "Certain situations contribute to even greater risks, most notably nighttime driving and driving with teen passengers."
The proposed bill also would prohibit more than one unrelated person under 18 years old from being in the car with a provisional license holder.
The higher crash and fatality rates for teenagers in their first year behind the wheel have prompted highway safety advocates to fight for laws that prevent them from driving unsupervised, at least until they turn 17. Sixteen-year-olds are four times more likely than adult drivers to become involved in a crash and three times as likely to die in one, national statistics show.
Motorists are at the greatest risk during their first year of driving — with high speed, driver error and multiple passengers contributing to crashes.
Graduated licensing programs extend the learner's period, the time that teen-agers must drive with an adult in the car. Further, they limit driving under conditions linked to crashes. The first graduated licensing program was introduced in Florida in 1996. By 2003, 47 jurisdictions had them.
According to the study, 938 16-year-old motorists nationwide were involved in fatal wrecks in 2003 — more than one-fourth less than in 1993, when 1,084 died in such crashes. That is despite an 18 percent increase in the number of 16-year-olds in the nation, the study found. At the same time, the percentage of fully licensed 16-year-olds declined — from 42 percent in 1993 to 31 percent in a decade.
Also striking, Ferguson said, was a 39 percent drop in fatal crashes involving a 16-year-old drivers carrying other teenagers.
Advertiser staff writer Curtis Lum contributed to this report.
