Graduated Licenses May Limit Driving Accidents Among Teens

Adolescents are especially susceptible to indulging in risky behaviors for a variety of mental, emotional and physiological reasons. One of the most dangerous behaviors adolescents engage in is driving, according to Dr. Yifrah Kaminer, a professor of Psychiatry & Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut.

“Adolescent driving is always high-risk, it’s never low-risk,” he said.

Kaminer pointed out the disparity in intellectual maturation, which is reached around age 16, and emotional maturation, which is reached around age 25.

This disparity, along with surging levels of hormones and predispositions towards seeking out novel and risky behaviors, makes adolescents more liable to be involved in car accidents.

These risk factors are highlighted when teens are involved in dangerous or fatal accidents. Amanda Conway, an 18-year-old from Suffield,   Conway was the driver in the accident which resulted in the death of Suffield resident Alexa Crosby, 17.  Police said Conway had a blood-alcohol level of .065, more than three times the legal limit of .02 for people under age 21, and an open bottle of liquor was found in her car.

Kaminer isn’t alone in his recognition of driving as a risky behavior for teenagers.

Allstate Insurance Company said 5,000 teens died nationwide in car crashes in 2008, citing facts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Fatality Statistics. Car crashes were the leading cause of death for teens in 2008.

“Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Connecticut teens and are responsible for 39 percent of all deaths among 16- and 17-year-olds,” said Marian Storch, a member of the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Initiatives Branch, in testimony given to the state’s Transportation Committee in 2008.

The Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act, which proposes a consistent, national graduated driver’s license program, was presented to the U.S. Senate on March 8, according to advocacy Web site saferoads4teens.org. The act was first introduced in 2009.

Connecticut’s graduated driver's license program, which has been in effect in its most current form since August 2008, places more restrictions on the youngest drivers in the state.

Drivers younger than 18 years old cannot drive between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless they are going to or from work, school or a religious activity. For the first six months that they cannot have passengers except for parents, guardians, driving instructors or people who have held a driver’s license with a clean record for more than four years.

Additionally, young drivers cannot use electronic devices (even those with hands-free attachments) and all passengers must wear seatbelts.

Connecticut’s graduated driver's license program conforms closely to the national program proposed by the STANDUP act. The only difference is the restriction on passengers. In Connecticut, a 17-year-old driver may transport any immediate family members after holding a graduated license for six months, while the STANDUP act would restrict passengers until a driver is 18 years old.

Allstate has advocated for the act as well, producing advertisements encouraging support for the STANDUP Act. One of the major findings presented by the company is that fatal crashes among 16-year-old drivers are reduced by approximately 40 percent in states with GDL requirements.