Age and experience matter when it comes to the safety of young-adult drivers. As National Teen Driver Safety Week gets underway, a pair of studies by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety suggest that states could reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries by extending graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws to new drivers beyond the age of 17.

(AlexRaths, ThinkStock)
(AlexRaths, ThinkStock)
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The idea behind graduated driver license programs are to help new drivers gain practical experience behind the wheel by reducing their exposure to risky situations, like driving at night or with young passengers in the car.  As the new drivers gain more experience, more privileges are allowed.

"Turning 18 does not instantly make someone a safer driver," said Tracy Noble, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic in a press release Monday. "This new research reinforces how important experience is to safe driving and suggests that graduated driver licensing laws may be beneficial for people that begin driving at an older age."

The findings are based on two studies that looked at crash rates of new drivers. The first examined California and North Carolina, both of which allow driving at the age of 16 and do not have any GDL requirements for new drivers 18 or older. According to the study, new drivers licensed at older ages were less likely to crash during their first months and years of driving compared to younger beginners. However, new drivers licensed at the age of 18 were more likely to be involved in a crash resulting in injuries during their first year of driving solo than new drivers licensed at any other age.

The second study looked at crash rates in New Jersey, which has a minimum age of 17 for unsupervised driving and is the only state in the country to have a comprehensive GDL program for all new drivers up to the age of 21. In the Garden State, crash rates of new drivers licensed at different ages converged after six months of solo driving experience, older beginners had lower crash rates overall and lower rates of injury during crashes than younger beginners.

Despite the fact that researchers were unable to look into whether the differences were a result of GDL provisions, the results of both studies suggest that applying GDL to all or even some new drivers might improve safety.

"Graduated driver licensing can greatly reduce crashes, injuries and deaths for everyone on the road. These laws set the parameters to help ease the transition behind the wheel during the learning to drive process," Noble said.

While graduated driver licensing programs have reduced crashes among 16 and 17 year old drivers, they generally do not apply to new drivers 18 and older. AAA is not calling for states to extend GDL provisions just yet, but does believe the research results are a positive step toward pinpointing a way to keep young drivers safe and more research into the subject will be done in the coming year.

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