One of the basic precepts of graduated licence laws is that inexperienced drivers are the most susceptible to distraction.
While still in the experience-acquiring stage of driving, they lack the knowledge necessary to react in time and in proper fashion when confronted with a situation outside the norm.
The critical relationship between time and distance has yet to be fleshed out in their minds, causing them to be especially at risk when closing speeds are outside their parameters of reference.
It is generally accepted that approximately half of all new drivers will be involved in an incident resulting in vehicle damage during their first 18 months of being licensed.
Thankfully, the vast majority of these occur at lower speeds and the damage is relatively minor. But when speeds are greater, the risks are greater - and the results more serious.
The most common causes of crashes in which higher speeds are involved involve turning left in front of opposing traffic, passing and similar situations where the closing rate of speed is high, and when the time available to access and react is minimal.
A study released in February by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety serves to remind us of the terrible cost of these crashes. The foundation reports that an updated analysis of 10 years of crash data shows the majority of people killed in crashes where a teen is driving are the passengers.
"The analysis shows that about one-third of people killed in crashes involving drivers ages 15 to 17 are teen drivers themselves. Nearly two-thirds are passengers, occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users," it says.
Robert Darbelnet, chief executive officer and president of the American Automobile Association, says this underscores the link between teen driver safety and the safety of everyone on the road.
"Young drivers face an array of potentially deadly challenges at the wheel," said AAA Foundation president and CEO Peter Kissinger. "Parents and teens need to understand the serious responsibility of driving and the risks and consequences involved."
In the 10-year period between 1998 and 2007, crashes involving 15-, 16- and 17-year-old drivers killed 28,138 people in the United States, the AAA says, and 10,388 (36.9 per cent) were teen drivers themselves. The remaining 17,750 (63.1 per cent) deaths included 8,829 passengers of the teen drivers, 6,858 occupants of other vehicles operated by adult drivers and 2,063 non-motorists and others.
It says a previous analysis in 2006 found that between 1995 and 2004 crashes involving 15-, 16- and 17-year-old drivers claimed the lives of 30,917 people, of whom 36.2 per cent were teen drivers and 63.6 per cent were others.
The motorists' association credits improved awareness for the drop in both teen driver deaths and the larger drop in deaths of others.
"During the last decade, as states improved their teen licensing systems and AAA has helped parents get more involved, we have seen reductions in teen driver deaths and even larger reductions in the number of other people killed," Darbelnet says. "Clearly, measures put into place to save teen drivers help us all."
The 51-million-member association is a strong proponent of graduated licensing and says that 49 states fall short of AAA guidelines, which have proven effective in reducing deaths among 16-year-old drivers by 38 per cent.
A report by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation - Best practices for graduated driver licensing in Canada - compared programs in place in this country with those in other jurisdictions.
It identified a number of proven components necessary for a multistaged GDL program including:
- Minimum entry age
- Vision and knowledge testing
- Parental consent under the age of 19
- Minimum duration of 12 months
- Maximum of 24 months before retesting and advancing
- Accompanied by a supervisory driver for a minimum of 50 hours, including 10 at night and 10 in winter conditions
- Professional driver education and training
- Zero BAC (blood alcohol content) - same for the supervisor
- Night restrictions
- Passenger restrictions
- L (learner) sign or plate
- Stiff penalties, suspension and prohibitions for violations of the above.
The AAA, TIRF and other organizations all stress that parental involvement is a key factor in these critical early years at the wheel.
Halifax-based Richard Russell runs a driving school.
Correction: The Traffic Injury Research Foundation is a registered Canadian charity based in Ottawa. An editing error incorrectly identified it as a U.S. body in the above article.
