License Laws Cut Teen Driver Deaths

The National Safety Council released a series of studies Tuesday showing that teen deaths and injuries have dropped in states with graduated driver’s license laws, which require teen drivers to get a provisional license and an intermediate license before they are eligible for a regular license. Among the findings:

* California: The number of fatal and at-fault injury crashes among 16-year-olds dropped 23% and the number of teen passenger deaths and injuries in cars driven by 16-year-olds dropped 40% after graduated driver’s licensing was implemented in 1998.

* Connecticut: The number of fatal crashes among 16-year-olds dropped 22% after graduated driver’s licensing was implemented in 1997.

* Florida: The casualty rate among 15- to 17-year-old drivers dropped 9% in 1997, the first full year after graduated driver’s licensing went into effect. Nighttime crash rates in that age group dropped 17%; daytime crashes dropped 7%.

* Kentucky: The number of crashes involving 16-year-old drivers dropped 33% and the number of fatal crashes dropped 34% after a partial graduated driver’s licensing program went into effect in 1996.

* Michigan: The crash rate for 16-year-old drivers dropped 25% between 1996 and 1999. Michigan’s law went into effect in 1997.

* North Carolina: The crash rate for 16-year-old drivers dropped 23% and the fatal crash rate dropped 57% after graduated driver’s licensing went into effect in 1997.

* Ohio: The fatal crash rate for 16- and 17-year-old drivers dropped 23%, while the fatal crash rate dropped 24% after graduated driver’s licensing was adopted in 1999.

* Pennsylvania: Fatalities dropped 58% from 1999 to 2000. Its graduated licensing program went into effect in December 1999.