Citation

Foss RD. J. Adolesc. Health 2018; 63(5): 521-522.

Affiliation

Center for the Study of Young Drivers, Highway Safety Research Center, Department of Health Behavior, Department of Maternal & Child Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.08.008

PMID

30348273

Abstract

Nearly a quarter century has passed since researchers began to fully recognize how much the “young driver crash problem,” is a matter of driving inexperience rather than one of youthfulness. When we began to examine crash rates by single year of driver age, and adjusted for exposure (miles traveled), it was quickly apparent that viewing this issue as an adolescent phenomenon was erroneous. Sixteen-year-old drivers crashed at a rate nearly double that of 17-year-olds! Neither adolescent development broadly, nor brain maturation in particular, are sufficiently concentrated in the 17th year of life to adequately explain this. Moreover, the same steep decline in crashes with increasing experience also characterizes postadolescent novice drivers. The sharp decline in crash rates among drivers during their first several months of driving, along with a continued but decreasing rate of improvement over time look very much like the typical human “learning curve”.

Recognition that lack of experience, which characterizes all novice drivers, is the overriding reason for the high crash rates of the youngest drivers led to the deployment of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) systems for young drivers throughout the US, beginning in the late 1990s. GDL markedly altered the licensing process, replacing simple gatekeeping with a focus on encouraging beginners to acquire the practical driving experience needed to adequately learn this complex skill, while ensuring practice occurs under conditions that substantially protect novices from the risks inherent in their inexperience. Dozens of studies now document that adoption of GDL has produced a dramatic decrease in crashes among young novice drivers. But this beneficial effect is largely concentrated in the Learner and Intermediate licensing stages, while young novices remain subject to the protective elements of the GDL process. Relatively little long-term improvement in driving has been observed, with those licensed under a comprehensive GDL system about 3%–5% less likely to crash in their first five years.

Speculation abounds about why a conceptually sound approach to licensing that is strongly informed by an understanding of both learning and adolescence has not produced greater long-term benefits...

Language: en