Untitled Document

Fatality rate declining for teenage drivers

Brent Jennings, PE
Highway Safety Manager

Okay, here goes, I am going to date myself. Many (many, many) years ago my parents woke up on an early June morning and I am sure probably looked at each other and over their cup of coffee choked those immortal words of “Oh my god, he is heading off to drivers training today.”

Indeed, on that glorious Monday, with my friends John, Wayne, and Tony we jumped on our bicycles at 7:00 am and pedaled off for Borah High School with a huge smile knowing our freedom offered by a driver’s license was just weeks away. The classroom portion bored us, but the behind the wheel experience thrilled us and that is where I learned the most. In Idaho at this time of my life you could drive at age 14 (daylight only) and I was king of my out-of-state cousins who had to wait until 16 or even 18 in order to secure that magic hunk of plastic know as a driver’s license. I could not imagine growing so old in order to get a driver’s license. Please keep in mind cell phones and texting at this time were only thoughts of imagination on episodes of Star Trek.

Now fast forward to 2012. In news that ought to relieve parents, the death rate of teenage drivers has fallen steadily and dramatically in the United States since 1996, when states began enacting graduated driver licensing laws. According to recent research many deadly crashes involving teenage drivers between 1996 and 2010, the last year for which complete data was available, were attributed to those drivers’ inexperience behind the wheel.

Graduated driver-licensing programs introduce driving privileges little by little, with the intention of minimizing potential distractions to new drivers and to shield them from high-risk situations like driving at night and with passengers from their age group. Earlier research performed indicate that states with the strongest laws experienced the biggest reductions in fatal crashes among drivers aged 15 to 17 years old compared with states with weaker programs or laws.

The death rate, which was based on 15-to-17-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes per 100,000 teenagers, fell 68 percent for 16-year-old drivers. The downward trend continued for other teenagers, with a decline of 59 percent for 17-year-olds, 52 percent for 18-year-olds and 47 percent for 19-year-olds. And nationwide for the first time since 1996 the death rate among 16-year-old drivers fell below that of driver’s age 30 to 59. This is of great hope.

I am sure today parents still wake up with the “Oh my god” moment as their kids transition into the drivers of tomorrow, but overall the news of safety is encouraging for those getting their driver’s license for the first time. The culture of highway safety at an early age will serve us well as we do continue to move “Towards Zero Deaths” in Idaho.