Recent nationally-representative surveys have provided important insight on the primary reasons why US teens delay licensure, but are limited in their ability to estimate licensure rates and trends. State-level administrative licensing data are the ideal data source to provide this information, but they have not yet been analysed for this purpose. The objective was to analyse New Jersey’s (NJ) licensing database to: (1) describe population-based rates of licensure among 17- to 20-year-olds, overall and by gender and zip code level indicators of household income, population density, and race/ethnicity; and (2) examine trends in licensure from 2006 through 2011. The research presented here was conducted as a part of a larger study that is examining the effects of age and experience on crash rates among New Jersey drivers licensed at older versus younger ages. (Author/publisher)
Abstract