Effect of Florida's graduated licensing program on the crash rate of teenage drivers

Citation
Rg. Ulmer et al., Effect of Florida's graduated licensing program on the crash rate of teenage drivers, ACC ANAL PR, 32(4), 2000, pp. 527-532
Citations number
12
Categorie Soggetti
Public Health & Health Care Science
Journal title
ACCIDENT ANALYSIS AND PREVENTION
ISSN journal
00014575 → ACNP
Volume
32
Issue
4
Year of publication
2000
Pages
527 - 532
Database
ISI
SICI code
0001-4575(200007)32:4<527:EOFGLP>2.0.ZU;2-E
Abstract
On 1 July 1996, Florida instituted a graduated licensing program for driver s younger than age 18. For the first 3 months, holders of learner's license s are not allowed to drive at all between 19:00 and 06:00 h; thereafter, th ey may drive until 22:00 h. Learner's licenses must be held for 6 months pr ior to eligibility for the intermediate license. Sixteen-year-old intermedi ate license holders are not permitted to drive unsupervised from 23:00 to 0 6:00 h, 17 year-olds from 01:00 to 06:00 h. All drivers younger than 18 hav e strict limits on the number of traffic violations they can accumulate and , effective 1 January 1997, all drivers younger than 21 are subject to a ze ro tolerance law for drinking and driving. Florida crash data for 1995-1997 were obtained and compared with similar data from Alabama, a state that bo rders Florida but does not have graduated licensing. For 15, 16, and 17 yea r-olds combined, there was a 9% reduction in the fatal and injury crash inv olvement rate in Florida during 1997, the first full year of graduated lice nsing, compared with 1995. On a percentage basis, crashes declined most amo ng 15 year-olds, followed by 16 year-olds and then 17 year-olds. Reductions were not seen among Alabama teenagers nor among 18 year-olds in Florida. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.