The Facts: Graduated Licensing

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) encourages states to implement a graduated driver licensing system. The purpose of such a system is to ease young drivers into the driving environment through more controlled exposure to progressively more difficult driving experiences or driver licensing stages, prior to full licensure.

A significant percentage of young drivers are involved in traffic crashes and are twice as likely as adult drivers to be in fatal crashes. The problems contributing to their high crash rates include immaturity, inexperience and lack of adequate driving skills, driving during nighttime high risk hours, risk-taking, and poor driving judgment and decision making.

To address these problems, NHTSA and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) developed an entry level driver licensing system. It consists of three distinct stages, named by the type of license possessed at each stage: learner's permit, intermediate (provisional) license, and full license.


Key Facts

    Last year, over 6,000 young people, ages 15 to 20, died in motor vehicle crashes.

    Approximately one-third of all deaths for people 15 to 20 years old are from motor vehicle crashes.

    The crash rate for 16-year-old drivers is 15 times that of 20- to 24-year-olds.

    Young drinking drivers are involved in fatal crashes at twice the rate as drivers aged 21 and older.

    In the last two years, non-alcohol-related fatalities increased by three percent for youth aged 15 to 20.

    States with nighttime driving restrictions or curfews for young novice drivers experience lower crash rates than comparison states.

    More unrestrained youth die in crashes than those wearing safety belts.

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