License Law Curbs Teen Car Crashes
N.C.'s graduated system saves lives, study finds
By Richard Stradling, News & Observer

A state law that forces teenagers to get their driver's licenses in stages has prevented thousands of crashes and saved dozens of lives, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The rate of crashes involving 16-year-old drivers dropped 23 percent from 1996, before the law went into effect, to 1999, the first year it applied to everyone, according to a study by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center being published today. The rate of fatal crashes involving 16-year-olds declined 57 percent in that time.

"That's 25 more people walking around that wouldn't have been here," said Robert D. Foss, lead author of the study in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Automobile crashes are the No. 1 cause of death among U.S. teenagers, with 16-year-olds historically having the highest crash rate of all. To reduce the risk, 34 states have adopted some type of graduated driver's licenses for teens, restricting their driving during the first months or years they are licensed.

North Carolina's law was among the first, taking effect Dec. 1, 1997. It requires drivers ages 15 to 18 to drive with designated adults for the first 12 months, using learner's permits. Afterward, those who keep clean driving records for six months and pass a road test may receive provisional licenses and drive unsupervised between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. After another six months without a traffic violation, they qualify for full licenses.

The law has changed teens' expectations and motivations. Katie Sharp, a 16-year-old junior at Enloe High School in Raleigh, says it keeps teens from "driving stupid," particularly during those first 12 months when their parents are sitting next to them.

"It helps you stay safe," Sharp said.

The restrictions have not changed the percentage of 16-year-olds who get driver's licenses. In 1999, about two-thirds of them still received their licenses before their 17th birthday, although many were barred from driving at night or without an adult.

Crashes among new drivers of any age probably would decline with a graduated license system, Foss said, but the results are most dramatic among younger teens who are relatively immature and "subject to impulsive behaviors." The Chapel Hill researchers are looking at the 2000 data to see whether lower crash rates apply to 17-year-old drivers.

"That's a big question," Foss said. "But even if 17-year-olds go right back to being just as bad, the law would still have a big effect."

Sharp's friend Corey Tanner thinks the law will make older teens safer drivers as well. "It becomes habit-forming," said Tanner, 16, who has her full license. "If you start off being a good driver, you're not going to become a bad driver later."

Many teens have mixed feelings about the graduated license law. They can't argue with the lower crash numbers but chafe at not being able to drive home from an early movie on their own.

Angela Stiles, 17, an Enloe senior who just received the first 12-month driver's permit, says the law unfairly assumes all teens are problem drivers. "People that are responsible could be waiting to get their license for nothing," said Stiles, who will have to drive with her parents until she turns 18 next June.

Graham Nichols supports the broad-brush approach. Nichols, regional director of the Sears/Bryant Driving School in North Raleigh, says most teens have the right attitude about driving and very much want to earn their licenses. "But it's just like any other physical skill," he said. "The more practice you get, the better off you are."

Foss said the state's graduated license law doesn't protect only teenagers. Before the law took effect, about a third of those injured in accidents involving 16-year-old drivers were drivers and passengers of other vehicles. "Making things safer for teen drivers is a benefit for everybody out there," he said.

Staff writer Richard Stradling can be reached at (919) 829-4739 or rstradli@newsobserver.com