Graduated driver licensing - an approach followed in New York that requires young teen drivers to progress through several stages of restricted driving before attaining full driving privileges - has been a success story in recent years.
Formal instruction, adult supervision, passenger restrictions and a ban on night driving are common state-mandated requirements teens must accept before achieving full driving access. Statistics show that these tougher requirements are paying off - since the mid-1990s traffic accident fatalities among 16-year-old drivers have dropped as much as 40 percent, according to TeenDriverSource.org.
However a new study reveals an unexpected consequence of these tough new laws - fatalities among 18-year-old drivers have increased. "When you look at the bigger picture across 18 and 19-year-olds, it looks like we're offsetting those saved crashes," said study author Scott Masten, a researcher with California's Department of Motor Vehicles, in a NYTimes.com blog. "In fact, 75 percent of the fatal crashes we thought we were saving actually just occurred two years later. It's shocking."
Are Teens Waiting Until Age 18 to Avoid Restricted Driving Rules?
Masten suspects the rise in fatal crashes among 18-year-olds is caused by teenagers waiting until age 18 to get a license, thus skipping the restriction period that applies to younger drivers. To back his theory, he cited statistics that showed a drop in licensing among 16 and 17-year-olds - but not 18 and 19-year-olds - when California instituted graduated driving licensing. As a result, a greater proportion of inexperienced drivers hit the road at 18.
New York Modifies Graduated License Law
New York also has a graduated license program which consists of three-steps to prepare young drivers - a permit stage, junior licensing and finally, senior licensing. The steps include:
- Permit drivers may drive only during daylight hours with a supervising adult over 21 and one other passenger. Seat belts for all are required and certain driving routes are off-limits.
- After six months, permit drivers can move on to junior licensing after completing 50 hours of supervised driving and passing a road test. Driving hours are extended to 9 p.m. with exceptions for work or school commuting, but the one-passenger restriction still applies.
- Drivers who reach age 18 with no infractions automatically receive a full senior license. Junior drivers who complete a state-authorized driver's education program are eligible at age 17.
Obviously the goal of the graduated license program in New York is to avoid car accidents involving inexperienced teen drivers - however, the unintended consequence is that we may be just postponing when these inexperienced driver are hitting the road.
![[picture of] Daniel A. Kalish](/design/images/attorneyPic.jpg)
