parent-teen.com
an
online magazine for families with teens
ARTICLES,
ARCHIVES, &
RESOURCES
Ages
& Stages
Alcohol/Drugs
Arts
& Media
College
Planning
Coping
Driving
Fun
Issues
News
Parent
Pages
Puberty
School
Sex
& Dating
Sports
Volunteering
Working
Your
Body
COLUMNS
College
Prep
Dear
Mike
Freshman
Journal
From
the Backpack
FEEDBACK
What our readers
say
FORUMS
Discussion boards for parents & teens,
plus professional college planning advice. COMING SOON.
CONTRIBUTE
Editorial guidelines
SHOP
Coming soon.
Recommended
books for parents and teens from amazon.com. Your purchases will
help support this site.
Parent-Teen is a publication of:
Parents'
Press
1454 Sixth St.
Berkeley, CA 94710
Phone:
(510) 524-1602
Fax:
(510) 524-0912
e-mail:
ParentsPrs@aol.com
Site contents © copyright 1997-2000 by Parents' Press
You are welcome to make a single (1) copy of any article for your personal, non-commercial use as long as all rights & copyright information remains intact. Please contact us if you are interested in reprinting any material from this site.
Bullets
courtesy of
Findings Show Graduated Driver's License Working in North Carolina
Number of Young Driver Crashes Has Significantly Declined Since Enactment of Law
RALEIGH, N.C., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Preliminary findings of a study released Tuesday reveal that the state's graduated license law (GDL) is saving lives and preventing injuries among teens in North Carolina.
The study, conducted by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, found that 16-year-old drivers were involved in 26% fewer crashes in 1999 than in 1997, the year the GDL law was enacted. Additionally, injuries and fatalities among 16-year-old drivers declined 29% from 1997 to 1999.
Data for 16-year-old drivers was the basis of the study because by 1999, nearly all drivers that age had begun their driving experience under the GDL program as opposed to the previous licensing system.
The study also found that a principal component of GDL, a restriction on unsupervised nighttime driving by novice drivers, is working as anticipated. While 16-year-old driver crashes declined by 22% during the hours between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m., the decrease was 47% during the restricted driving hours of 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
"The decrease in young driver crashes at night translates into lives saved. In 1997, there were 13 drivers 16 years of age who were killed between the hours of 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. In 1999, there was only one 16-year-old driver killed during those hours," said Dr. Rob Foss, the primary author of the study. "GDL is doing exactly what it was intended to do -- save lives and prevent injuries, and there is ample reason to believe that a permanent decrease in young driver crashes will result from the GDL system."
Future studies of GDL will examine its effects on 17-year-old drivers to determine which elements of the program produce the greatest results and what the enduring effects of GDL are on drivers after they finish the GDL program.
"We have been behind GDL from the very beginning," said Joe Parker, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program. "We hope these findings will help encourage other states to enact GDL legislation so that young drivers everywhere can learn the fundamentals of driving before going out on the road on their own."
North Carolina was only the second state to enact a GDL system, which serves the purpose of reducing crash risks for young beginning drivers by systematically providing them with more practical experience, gained under the safest possible conditions, before allowing them to drive on their own. An estimated 145,000 teen drivers have participated in the GDL process since the program went into effect in December 1997.
Home | About Us | Ages & Stages | Alcohol/Drugs | Arts & Media | College Planning | College Prep column | Coping | Dear Mike | Driving | Feedback | Freshman Journal | From the Backpack | Fun | Issues | News | Parent Pages | Puberty | School |Sex & Dating | Sports | Volunteering | Working | Your Body | Advertise | Contribute | E-mail Us