Testimony of
Kevin E. Quinlan
Chief, Safety Advocacy Division
National Transportation Safety Board
before the
Committee On Environmental Matters
Maryland House of Delegates
On
Graduated Driver Licensing Measures
(House Bills 1281, 1313, 1426)
Annapolis, Maryland
March 11, 2008

Good afternoon Madame Chair and members of the Committee on Environmental Matters.  It is my pleasure to be here in Annapolis to talk about the National Transportation Safety Board’s graduated driver licensing (GDL) recommendations and our investigations of accidents involving young drivers.

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress to investigate transportation accidents, determine their probable cause, and make recommendations to prevent their recurrence.  The recommendations that arise from our investigations and safety studies are our most important product.  The Safety Board has neither regulatory authority nor grant funds.  However, in our 40-year history, organizations and government bodies have adopted more than 80 percent of our recommendations.

The Safety Board has recognized for many years that motor vehicle crashes are responsible for more deaths than crashes in all other transportation modes combined.  More than 90 percent of all transportation-related deaths each year result from highway crashes. A disproportionate number of these highway crashes involve teen drivers age 15 through 20, young people who have only recently obtained their licenses to drive.  Young drivers have been the focus of U.S. driver licensing systems primarily because they constitute the largest group of beginners and have the highest crash risk.

The Problem

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, traffic crashes account for 36 percent of all deaths among 15-20 year olds, making traffic crashes the leading cause of death for this age group, more than suicides or drugs.  Crash rates for young drivers are significantly higher than crash rates for other driving populations.  In 2006, young drivers age 15-20 years made up about 6.4 percent of the driving population, but comprised more than 12.9 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes.  Further, 16 percent of all highway fatalities occurred in crashes involving teen drivers.  Crash statistics for Maryland are just as ominous.  In 2006, teens made up less than 6 percent of the driving population, but constituted more than 11 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes; almost 18 percent of the deaths on Maryland roads occurred in crashes involving teen drivers.

While these numbers define a serious problem, it is individual tragedies that make us recognize the critical importance of addressing this issue. Over the last year, Maryland has experienced a series of teen driving tragedies.  Amending your graduated driver licensing law is an important step that will reduce needless deaths and injuries on Maryland highways and help thousands of young drivers in Maryland to adjust to their new driving responsibilities.

While the emotional costs are staggering, the financial costs are equally astounding.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) calculated that the lifetime cost to society for each fatality is over $977,000, and those not directly involved in crashes pay for nearly three-quarters of all crash costs, primarily through insurance premiums, taxes, and travel delay.  Therefore, the tragic lives lost across our nation cost society billions of dollars.

A number of studies by Federal agencies, the States, private organizations and others have shown that 16-year-olds are more likely to be involved in single vehicle crashes, be responsible for the crash, be cited for speeding, and carry more passengers in their vehicles than older drivers.  Such crashes are most likely to occur from 10 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.  Although young drivers do only 20 percent of their driving at night, over half the fatalities of young drivers occur during nighttime hours.

A recent analysis of 10 years of data concluded by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the majority of fatalities in teen crashes are persons other than the teenaged drivers themselves.  This is consistent with the Safety Board’s review of young driver crashes.  In Maryland, AAA found that more than 61 percent of those killed in accidents involving teen drivers were either passengers, occupants of other vehicles, or non-motorists such as pedestrians.

Young drivers typically carry more passengers in their cars than older drivers, and these passengers are usually around the same age as the driver.  Often this results in a deadly combination of inattention, inexperience, and immaturity.  A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that the risk of death increased significantly with each additional teen passenger transported by a teen driver.  In single vehicle crashes involving teen drivers, two-thirds of fatally injured passengers were also teens (between ages 15 and 19).

A frequent contributing factor to crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving teens is the decision by the young novice driver and his or her peers not to use seat belts.  Nationally, from 1995 through 2004, about 40 percent of motor vehicle occupants involved in fatal crashes were unrestrained, and almost 58 percent of fatally injured motor vehicle occupants were unrestrained.  As abysmal as these numbers are, seat belt use among the teen population is worse.  For the same years, almost 50 percent of teen occupants age 15 through age 20 who were involved in fatal crashes were unrestrained.  Almost 63 percent of fatally injured teens were unrestrained.  In Maryland, almost 38 percent of the teens involved in fatal crashes while riding in motor vehicles were unrestrained.  Almost 53 percent of the fatally injured teens were unrestrained.  Although better than the national average, likely because Maryland authorizes primary enforcement, these numbers are still unacceptably high.

Our current driver education system does not teach young people to drive; it teaches them to pass a test.  Learning to drive is a long-term process, one that cannot be effectively achieved through the traditional driver education program alone.  Once the basic skills are learned, extensive additional “on the job” training without distractions, and with the assistance of a more mature and experienced driver is needed.  As their skills and maturity develop, young novice drivers can then proceed to full licensure.

Recommended Solutions

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL)

After reviewing crashes involving novice drivers under the age of 21, in 1993, the Safety Board recommended that Maryland and the other States take several specific actions, including implementation of a comprehensive provisional license system for young novice drivers, also known as GDL.  GDL consists of a learner’s permit, an intermediate or provisional license, and finally a full license.  GDL establishes restrictions so that, until the driver has had an opportunity to gain experience, initial driving occurs in less dangerous circumstances.  Restrictions are lifted after successful completion of the learning and intermediate stages, without any moving violations or crashes attributed to the driver.

Strengthening your graduated driver licensing law is an important step that will reduce needless deaths and injuries on Maryland highways and help thousands of young drivers in Maryland to adjust to their new driving responsibilities.

Based on research by the Safety Board, NHTSA, and others, the Board recommends that the basic elements of a GDL program include the following: