Background

Statistics from the Hawaii Department of Transportation show that in 2002 there were 1,124 crashes involving teens 15-18 years of age. There were 10 fatalities and 1,085 were injured. Excessive speed, failure to yield, following too close, inattention and misjudgment were found to be major factors related to these crashes. Statistics in this range have been repeated for the years going back to 1986. Alcohol was involved in 40% of fatal crashes. Among 15-19 year olds, 40% of the deaths due to injury in Hawaii were due to motor vehicle crashes (1991-2000).

Nationwide, 16 year-olds have almost 10 times the crash risk of drivers ages 30-59 and almost 3 times the risk of older teenagers. The first year of licensed driving is the most hazardous in a young driver's driving lifetime, and it is the most hazardous for their peer passengers.

Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL)

Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia have responded to the needs of their young drivers by instituting a Graduated Drivers Licensing system. The system has three phases: 1) a supervised learner's period, 2) an intermediate (provisional) phase that permits unsupervised driving but only in less risky situations and includes limits on nighttime driving and peer passengers, 3) a full-privilege license after conditions of the first two phases have been met.

In February 2003, the National Safety Council reported that twelve different studies found that GDL systems reduced teen crash rates by as much as 33%. In one study the fatalities were reduced by 58%.

Role of the Pediatrician

Pediatricians are involved in injury prevention from the newborn period through the teen and young adult years. Children are most vulnerable to injury in the earliest years when they are physically immature and in their teen years when risk taking becomes important to them at the same time their reasoning abilities are maturing into adulthood. Maturing processes take time. At all ages there is a need to set protective limits so that the maturing process can develop without bodily injury coming into play.

The Graduated Drivers Licensing system has been shown as an effective way of providing protective limits thus reducing teen fatalities and injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes.

February 19, 2005