Teenage Driving Fatalities. The Writer

¶ … teenage driving fatalities. The writer explores statistical information and puts together suggestions to reduce the number of teen driving fatalities. The suggestion includes a nationwide standard for obtaining and maintaining a driver license. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

It is one of the great milestones of life. One turns 16, obtains a driver license and is finally free; free to come and go, free to pick up friends and hit the mall, free to drive to school and back without having to wait for mom or dad. One gets a driver license and it seems the entire world opens up at that time. It is an exciting and once in a lifetime experience to have that license placed in one's hand and one that carries with it enormous responsibilities. Recently there has been a lot of focus on teenage drivers and the possible issues that they face. Teen driving fatalities have received considerable amounts of attention and many states have begun taking measures to try and reduce the numbers.

Studies have indicated that teen drivers have more driving fatalities than any other group on the road .

One study was conducted in Utah and found that a full 63% of the driving fatalities on the road that year were because of teenage drivers. Whether the teen driver died, or the passengers in the teen driver's car died, or the people in the other car died, there was a teen driver involved in 63% of the driving deaths on the roads of Utah that year.

The study compared similar statistics to adult driving fatalities and who was at fault and found a much lower ratio of adults were responsible for death on the road than teens were in the study.

dfyllie forn odou uving To compare the crash conditions of adult drivers vs. TDs, we performed multiple logistic regression on the crash file (Table 1). Interestingly, crashes that involved TDs were less likely to result in an occupant fatality than were those that involved adult drivers. However, TDs were more likely to be involved in single vehicle crashes and crashes that occurred at night. In addition, occupants of cars that were driven by teenagers were significantly less likely to be wearing seatbelts than were those with adult drivers.

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Senate OKs tough limits, but will House go along? TEEN DRIVING

The Atlanta Constitution; 1/26/2001; Kathey Pruitt, Staff

The Atlanta Constitution

01-26-2001

Senate OKs tough limits, but will House go along? TEEN DRIVING

BYLINE: Kathey Pruitt, Staff

EDITION: Home

SECTION: News

Georgia senators trying to put the brakes on teen driving fatalities approved tough new restrictions Thursday on when youngsters can drive, how many passengers they can carry and how much training they must have before hitting the road. The bill that unanimously passed the Senate now heads to the House, where it faces a potentially bumpier ride. House Speaker Tom Murphy (D-Bremen) has expressed serious reservations, saying some of the nighttime driving curfews and other provisions unfairly penalize good teenage drivers. Other lawmakers say passenger limits for 16- and 17-year-olds -- only one unrelated passenger -- also may prompt objections.

Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell), vice chairman of the House motor vehicles committee, said lawmakers in 1997 went as far as many felt they could in enacting the current teen driving laws, which pose less stringent curfews and passenger restrictions than those being sought. "Now they're wanting to tweak them back up. I think the House will probably take a real close look at that," he said.

The bill pushed by Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and Sen. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) addressed several key aspects that state and national experts said are necessary to reduce teen driving accidents. It imposes a no-exceptions 10 p.m. To 6 a.m. nighttime driving curfew for 16-year-olds in addition to the passenger restriction, which would be among the toughest in the nation.

Other provisions include a midnight-to-6 a.m. driving curfew for 17-year-olds, a mandatory on-road test for all new drivers and mandatory 40 hours of driver instruction -- either by a parent or by a parent in conjunction with professional driver education -- as a condition for licensing new drivers.

On the Senate floor, lawmakers added what some advocates say are even more teeth to the bill. Lawmakers had proposed revoking the license of 16-year-olds for at least six months for most moving violations, such as driving more than 14 mph over the posted limit or running a red light. At the behest of suburban Sen. Billy Ray (R-Lawrenceville), the Senate extended that to include 17-year-old drivers.

"They're going to become better drivers because they're scared of losing their licenses," John Morris, head of the Teen Driver Safety Council, a statewide advocacy group, said of the last-minute changes.

Gingrey, a Marietta obstetrician who says he's tired of babies he had delivered being injured or killed in accidents, called Georgia's current teen driving situation "a recipe for disaster."

"They're tested in a parking lot (driving) between orange cones," he said, "and then allowed to get out on the highway that very day and can be out up to 1 a.m. with up to three teenage passengers."

Last year, nearly two dozen teens died in metro Atlanta accidents involving teenage drivers. And statistics show some rural areas of the state have even higher incidents of serious or fatal teen driving accidents.

Some lawmakers concerned about the stringent provisions acknowledged the teen driving problem, but said without exceptions for work, school or church activities, teens may become even more reckless.

"What's going to happen is at about 9:58 P.M. . . . you're going to have a drag race coming home from basketball and football games to get home by 10 p.m.," said Sen. Bart Ladd (R-Doraville).

An amendment to provide exceptions to the curfew failed Thursday, but a similar push is expected in the House.

Taylor pledged a tough effort in the House to keep the curfews in place. "Ten p.m. is plenty late for a 16-year-old to be out driving," he said, "particularly when you look at the number of accidents that occur after 9 p.m."

ILLUSTRATIONS/PHOTOS: Sens. Jack Hill (left, D-Reidsville) and Phil Gingrey (center, R-Marietta), co-sponsors of the teen driving bill, receive congratulations after the bill passed the Senate unanimously on Thursday. / CHARLOTTE B. TEAGLE / Staff

© Copyright 2001,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, All rights reserved.

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A population-based study of crashes involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers: the potential benefit of graduated driver licensing restrictions.(Statistical Data Included)

Pediatrics; 4/1/2001; Dean, J. Michael

Objective. To evaluate the potential effectiveness of graduated driver licensing programs using population-based linked data for motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) that involved teenaged drivers (TDs).

Methods. Utah crash, inpatient hospital discharge, and emergency department databases were analyzed and probabilistically linked. We computed hospital charges and compared violations, contributing factors, seatbelt use, and passengers for TDs (16-17 years old) relative to adult drivers (18-59 years old).

Results. TDs comprised 5.8% of the study population, but were involved in 19.0% of MVCs. TD crashes resulted in $11 million in inpatient hospital charges and 158 fatalities. TD crashes were 1.70 times (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.34, 2.04) less likely to result in fatal injury to drivers than were crashes that involved adult drivers, but TDs were 2.20 times (95% CI: 1.96, 2.47) more likely to receive citations. The following were findings of the study: 1) 11% of all TD crashes but 19% of fatal TD crashes occurred between 2200 and 0600 hours; 2) TDs used seatbelts less often than did adult drivers (79.1% vs. 84.4%) and less often with passengers present (81.9% vs. 75.0%; 3) TDs were 1.72 times (95% CI: 1.38, 2.14) more likely to be involved in crashes that resulted in seriously or fatally injured occupants when driving with passengers than when driving alone.

Conclusions. TDs are overrepresented in MVCs. TD crashes have a higher fatality rate at night, and TDs wear seatbelts less often than do adult drivers. Passengers affect TD crash characteristics. Graduated driver licensing programs that target state-specific characteristics of TDs may decrease morbidity and mortality. Pediatrics 2001;107:632-637; teenaged drivers, graduated driver licensing, provisional licensing, probabilistic linkage.

ABBREVIATIONS. TD, teenaged driver; MVC, motor vehicle crash; GDL, graduated driver licensing; ED, emergency department; CI, confidence interval.

In recent years, the public health risk associated with novice drivers has received an increasing amount of attention. Teenaged drivers (TDs) in particular are known to be overrepresented in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs).(1-7) Factors that contribute to the increased crash rate among TDs have been studied. These include not only inexperience, which is independent of age, (8) but also age-dependent factors that are unique to teenagers. For example, the TD may not yet have fully developed decision-making abilities and judgment. (1) TDs perceive less risk in most situations than do older drivers, overestimate their own skills, and consider themselves less vulnerable in the event of a crash. (8-16) Furthermore, the tendency to take risks may be increased by peer pressure, emotional lability, and other stresses. Finally, teenagers drive more frequently under higher risk conditions (ie, at night and/or without seatbelts). (1)

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and other governmental, private, and professional organizations have recommended legislation to institute a program of graduated driver licensing (GDL). These programs remove driving restrictions in stages as the TD gains experience and maturity, until full licensure is granted a minimum of 18 months after the learner's permit is obtained. (17) This type of program has been shown to decrease the crash rate of TDs in New Zealand, Canada, and several states in the United States. (18-22) Each of these programs incorporates different features of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommendations, yet it has not been well established which components are the most effective. In the present study, we determined the population-based rate of crashes that involved TDs in a single state, hospital charges associated with all people involved in those crashes, and the characteristics of these crashes to determine the potential effectiveness of various components of GDL programs. We hypothesized that TDs are overrepresented in crashes, especially at night, that TDs wear seatbelts less often, and that the presence of passengers significantly increases the risk of a crash that results in fatal or nonfatal injury.

METHODS

Data Sources

Four data sets were used in these analyses: 1) Utah MVC records; 2) the Utah hospital discharge database; 3) the Utah Emergency Department database; and 4) the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles driver license file. The 1992 to 1996 MVC records were obtained from the Utah Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic and Safety. This crash database contains information on all reportable crashes (defined as occurring on a public road and resulting in at least 1 injury or at least $1,000 in property damage). These data are collected on reports that are filled out by police officers at the scene of the crash. Data points include detailed information on the time, location, type of crash, vehicles, drivers, and any other people involved (eg, passengers, pedestrians).