Graduated driver licensing (GDL) is a method of licensing novice drivers commonly implemented in response to the over-involvement of young drivers in crashes. The quantitative analysis of trends in crash fatalities and serious injuries suggests that there were reductions over the ten-year period 1983 to 1992 for young drivers relative to older drivers in South Australia. It also seems there were reductions in fatalities over this period compared with Victoria. The introduction of zero blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for probationary licence holders in 1985, as a component of the licensing system along with GDL and other factors, could have been responsible for the decline. At the end of the period under study, the serious injury rate per 100,000 population of young drivers in South Australia was still high relative to older drivers, but the young driver fatality rate was comparable with that of older drivers. On a distance travelled basis, young drivers remain a high-risk group. (A)
Abstract