Abstract
Objectives—The presence of passengers is associated with fatal motor vehicle crashes of teenage drivers. A restriction against newly licensed teenage drivers carrying passengers has been included in some, but not all, graduated licensing systems. The purpose of this study was to predict the net effects on all types of road users, including vehicle occupants and non-occupants, of possible prohibitions against 16–17 year old drivers carrying passengers.
Methods—Two national datasets, a census of fatal crashes and a sample of trips in the United States, were used to compute 1995 road user death rates. Potential effects of restrictions on drivers ages 16–17 carrying passengers younger than 20 were estimated, based on road user death rates and potential choices made by passengers who would have traveled with 16–17 year old drivers if there were no restrictions.
Results—There were 1181 road user deaths in 1995 involving drivers ages 16–17 whose passengers were all younger than age 20. The predicted number of lives in the United States that would be saved annually ranges from 83 to 493 (corresponding to reductions of 7–42% in road user deaths) for drivers ages 16 and 17 combined. Similar percentages of reductions (8–44%) were predicted solely for 16 year old drivers. Assuming passenger restrictions would apply to all 16 year old drivers and at least one third of 17 year old drivers, an estimated 60–344 fewer deaths per year may occur if restrictions are mandated.
Conclusions—Restrictions on carrying passengers younger than 20 should be considered for inclusion in graduated licensing systems. Even if fewer than half the drivers obey the restrictions, a substantial reduction in road user deaths would be expected. Further evaluation based on real world experience is needed to confirm their efficacy.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (180.2 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Begg D. J., Langley J. D., Reeder A. I., Chalmers D. J. The New Zealand graduated driver licensing system: teenagers' attitudes towards and experiences with this car driver licensing system. Inj Prev. 1995 Sep;1(3):177–181. doi: 10.1136/ip.1.3.177. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Chen L. H., Baker S. P., Braver E. R., Li G. Carrying passengers as a risk factor for crashes fatal to 16- and 17-year-old drivers. JAMA. 2000 Mar 22;283(12):1578–1582. doi: 10.1001/jama.283.12.1578. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Daly L. E. Confidence limits made easy: interval estimation using a substitution method. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Apr 15;147(8):783–790. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009523. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Doherty S. T., Andrey J. C., MacGregor C. The situational risks of young drivers: the influence of passengers, time of day and day of week on accident rates. Accid Anal Prev. 1998 Jan;30(1):45–52. doi: 10.1016/s0001-4575(97)00060-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Langley J. D., Wagenaar A. C., Begg D. J. An evaluation of the New Zealand graduated driver licensing system. Accid Anal Prev. 1996 Mar;28(2):139–146. doi: 10.1016/0001-4575(95)00040-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Preusser D. F., Ferguson S. A., Williams A. F. The effect of teenage passengers on the fatal crash risk of teenage drivers. Accid Anal Prev. 1998 Mar;30(2):217–222. doi: 10.1016/s0001-4575(97)00081-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Williams A. F. Graduated licensing comes to the United States. Inj Prev. 1999 Jun;5(2):133–135. doi: 10.1136/ip.5.2.133. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Williams A. F., Preusser D. F. Night driving restrictions for youthful drivers: a literature review and commentary. J Public Health Policy. 1997;18(3):334–345. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]