It’s a system designed to phase in young beginning drivers to full driving privileges as they become more mature and develop their driving skills. Versions of graduated licensing are in effect in New Zealand and several provinces in Australia and Canada. Beginning with Florida in 1996, graduated licensing systems also have been adopted in most States in the United States.

There are three stages to a graduated licensing system: a supervised learner’s period; an intermediate license (after passing the driver test) that limits driving in high-risk situations except under supervision; and then a license with full privileges, available after completing the first two stages.

The best systems include a learner’s stage, beginning at age 16 and lasting at least 6 months, plus restrictions on unsupervised night driving and passengers during the first 6 to 12 months of licensure. The nighttime driving restriction should start at 9 or 10 p.m., and no more than one passenger should be allowed with an unsupervised beginning driver anytime during the day.

No State law meets or exceeds all of these requirements, but most States do impose some of the core requirements. Some States add other requirements including belt use provisions, cell phone use restrictions, penalty systems so that violations result in license suspension or extension of the holding period, and driver education. For more about the licensing law in your State, go to www.iihs.org/laws/state_laws/grad_license.html

Graduated licensing could apply to all first-time drivers. This is the policy in many countries. But in the United States young people make up the majority of beginning drivers, and their crash rates are particularly high. Sixteen-year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age, including older teenagers.

All teenagers are beginners when they first get behind the wheel. They all need time to develop their driving skills in low-risk settings.

Two factors in particular work against young drivers: inexperience behind the wheel and immaturity. Young drivers need time to develop their driving skills and the judgment to counteract their lack of on-the-road experience. Young drivers tend to overestimate their own physical and driving abilities and underestimate the dangers on the road.

The very youngest drivers are more likely to engage in risky behavior such as speeding, passing inappropriately, following other vehicles too closely, and driving without buckling their safety belts. Because of their inexperience, beginners are least able to cope with hazardous driving situations. The presence of passengers can increase the risk by distracting a beginning driver and creating peer pressure to participate in risky behavior. Teen passengers increase the crash risk for teenage drivers during the day as well as at night.

Graduated licensing doesn’t attempt to modify driver behavior directly. Instead it introduces beginners to driving in a low-risk manner, protecting both them and others on the road while they learn to drive and become more mature. It should be noted that young people are subject to legal restrictions in a variety of areas that include voting, purchasing alcohol, serving in the military, and assuming financial obligations.

We know some characteristics of younger drivers who are more likely to get into crashes, but it’s impossible to identify them adequately and intervene before they crash. The licensing systems in many States impose greater and/or earlier penalties on young people for traffic violations than they do on older drivers, but most fatally injured young drivers don’t have prior traffic violations or crashes on their records.

The logic of addressing all young people is that they all are beginning drivers. They all need time to develop driving skills in low-risk settings.

Yes, parents strongly favor it. A survey by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of parents of young drivers in California who had gone through the graduated licensing process found 95 percent of the parents in support of a 6-month period of supervised driving. Ninety-four percent favored night driving restrictions, 84 percent favored restricting teenage passengers during the first 6 months, and 97 percent of the parents said they favor a licensing system that includes all of these components. The survey was conducted in 2000.

Parents of teens surveyed in 1996 in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York said they strongly support graduated licensing. Although many parents want their children to get licenses early so they no longer have to be taken to school, work, or social activities, these same parents also worry about the risks.