Many jurisdictions in the United States and Canada have adopted graduated licensing, an increasingly popular approach to reducing new drivers’ risk of collisions, and many more are considering it. Such an approach is needed because of the extremely high crash rates among new drivers, especially young ones. In the United States, 16 year-olds have almost 10 times the crash risk of drivers ages 30-59 and almost 3 times the risk of older teenagers. Jurisdictions traditionally have allowed quick and easy paths to full-privilege licensure at an early age, which contributes to the high crash rate of young drivers. Graduated licensing offers a more sensible and less risky way for new drivers to begin. Although many North American systems are too new for formal evaluation, impressive crash and injury reductions have been reported thus far in California, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. Fifty-eight jurisdictions (District of Columbia, 47 U.S. states, 9 Canadian provinces, and 1 Canadian territory) have enacted one or more elements of graduated licensing, all but a few of which were enacted since 1994. There is tremendous variation in the programs that have been introduced. To assist other jurisdictions where graduated licensing is being contemplated or where further changes are being considered, this document provides recommendations for the structure and characteristics of such systems. Recommendations are based on scientific research where available and on what graduated systems are intended to accomplish. (Author/publisher)
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