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HSRC
researchers examine North Carolina's new graduated driver licensing
law:
Interviews with teens and parents may provide knowledge as to why "GDL" saves lives
story contents:
introduction | what does GDL change? | driving
practice | how GDL works
"What do parents and teens think of North Carolina's new graduated driver
licensing system? That's a question that researchers at the Highway
Safety Research Center are aiming to answer." |
Introduction
Graduated driver licensing, or "GDL," is a licensing system for young
drivers being adopted by many U.S. states and increasing numbers of
countries worldwide. The North Carolina system, passed by state legislators
in April 1997, took effect in December of 1997. It is a three-part licensing
process that makes learner's permits mandatory, requiring a full year
of supervised driving, and pushes the minimum age for getting an unrestricted
license from 16 to 16½.
Studies of similar laws in other countries have shown that GDL saves
lives. Prior to the enactment of the GDL law in Ontario, Canada, teens
were three times more likely than the general public to crash and die
in their vehicles. Results from a May 1998 study show the crash rate
for drivers ages 16 to 19 declined 27 percent in 1995 compared to 1993,
the year before the Ontario law went into effect.
"We know that in the places where GDL has been evaluated, it appears
to lower crash rates for young drivers, but what we don't know is through
what mechanism GDL does that," said HSRC Researcher Dr. Rob Foss, project
director for a study that will involve interviewing 900 sets of parents
and teens about GDL this spring. These data will be paired with data
gathered in a spring 1998 telephone survey of 890 sets of teens and
parents. Both surveys are part of an HSRC study examining North Carolina's
new GDL law to see whether it lowers crash risk for teens. The study
is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through
the N.C. Governor's Highway Safety Program.
"Most of the teens we talked to in 1998 were pre-GDL," said HSRC Researcher
Kathy Holladay, who is coordinating the project's data collection. "If
they had already gotten their permit or driver's license (when the GDL
law went into effect), they didn't have to abide by the new GDL system."
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What does GDL change?
The data collected this summer will be with teens and parents who fall
under North Carolina's new GDL system. "One of the things we want to know
is, what does GDL change?" Foss said. "Are teens driving differently now
than before the GDL law was passed? Are they getting more practice time
behind the wheel or are the crash rates going down because they're simply
older when they get their license?"
Researchers are also looking to find out what teens and parents think
about GDL. In the first survey, 62 percent of parents "highly approved"
of the new law. While only 13 percent of teens felt the same way. Fifty-five
percent of the teens conceded that they "somewhat approved" of the new
system.
Fifteen-year-old Allison Martell, a sophomore in Chapel Hill, NC, who
is in the first stage of GDL licensing, feels much differently than the
teens interviewed in 1998. When asked what she thought of the new law,
she replied: "It was put here to make the roads safer. My friends and
I just consider it a rule and don't really think about it."
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Driving practice
One concern of HSRC researchers was whether the new licensing system would
place a heavy burden on parents. Since parents now need to supervise their
teen's driving at all times during the first stage and after 9 p.m. during
the second stage, Center researchers wondered if it would be hard for
them to find the time to ride with their child. Twenty-four percent of
the parents surveyed in 1998 said they made time for supervised driving
trips taken just for the purpose of learning. Sixty-four percent said
they watched over their teens during everyday errands.
Carol Martell, Allison's mother, said it isn't difficult to find time
to drive with her daughter. She added that she tries to do it when they
are in relaxed situations. "It is better not to be in a hurry when
she drives. So, it turns out that quite often in the morning we don't
have her drive. But now if we are not running late, she'll drive to school."
Another issue HSRC researchers wondered about was whether teen drivers
would limit their driving so they wouldn't get traffic tickets. Under
the new GDL law, teens must drive for one year without getting any violations
before they can get their unrestricted license. During the first round
of data collection, HSRC researchers found that many teens were indeed
concerned about getting a ticket. In fact, 42 percent of the teenagers
with a GDL permit said that they were limiting the amount they drove so
they wouldn't get any tickets.
At the study's conclusion, HSRC researchers expect to find that North
Carolina's GDL system has produced a clear decrease in crashes among young
drivers, especially 16- and 17-year olds. In addition, they plan to use
the information from interviews to shed light on exactly why GDL systems
produce the safety benefits they have shown in Ontario, and places such
as Nova Scotia, Canada; New Zealand; and Florida.
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How GDL works
The new licensing system for beginning drivers under 18 consists of
three stages:
- To get a limited learners permit and begin the first stage of GDL,
new drivers must be 15 and have completed driver education. During
this 12-month stage, new drivers must be supervised by a parent or
guardian while driving. To graduate to the next level, they must complete
the last six months without traffic violations.
- During the second stage, teens have a limited provisional license
and unsupervised driving is allowed from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Supervised
driving is allowed at any time. Drivers must complete six months of
violation-free driving at this level to move to the next level.
- At level three, teens have a full provisional license and may drive
at any time.
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