Erica East

Mandy Tadewald

Kristine Regnier

Ashlee Morgan

Group Issue Analysis Paper

Graduated Driver’s License

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for young people aged 14 to 20 years, causing roughly one-third of all fatalities in this age group. Even though this age group makes up only seven percent of the driving population, it is involved in 14 percent of all traffic fatalities (Saving Teens Lives, 2003). Therefore, what should be done about the dangers of young, inexperienced drivers?

Teen drivers are different from other drivers, and their driving experience is different. Compared to other motorists, a higher proportion of teenagers are responsible for accidents resulting in fatalities due to their driving errors. According to the national statistics there are three main factors which go together to make the teen years so deadly for young drivers: 1) inexperienced drivers, 2) risk-taking (speeding) and 3) greater risk exposure (peer pressure, underage drinking) (Morse, 2003).

Aside from the national statistics, Wyoming has listed their own factors which include: 1) driver inattention 2) driver inexperience and 3) driving at unsafe speeds.

All young drivers start out with very little knowledge or understanding of the complexities of driving a motor vehicle on the highways. Like any other skill, learning to drive well takes a lot of time and experience. Ability, good judgment and experience are all needed in order to practice safe driving.

Adolescent impulsiveness is a natural behavior, however, it results in participating in high-risk behaviors such as speeding, inattention, drinking and driving and not using a seat belt. Peer pressure also often encourages risk taking.

Often times, teens drive at night with other teens in their vehicles. This is an important factor that increases crash risk. Two out of three teens that die as passengers are in vehicles driven by other teenagers (Saving Teens Lives, 2003)

According to the Wyoming Impaired Driving Coalition in Lander, in 2001 drivers aged 14 to 20 were involved in 29.6% of the total 15,203 crashes. Also this same age group was involved in 15.6% of the 940 total crashes in 2001that involved alcohol.

In 1987, New Zealand implemented a graduated driver’s licensing system. Due to its effectiveness, similar systems were adopted in two Canadian provinces. Now graduated licensing is attracting U.S. interest (Bob Storck, 2).

In 1998, California implemented a law regarding a graduated driver’s license. According to the State of California’s statistics, there was an 18.1% decrease in fatalities at age 15; a 12.1% decrease for 16 year olds and an 8.9% decrease for 17 year olds, after the graduated license was adopted. Many other states are beginning to adopt laws much the same in order to protect teens and hopefully increase safety on the road for everyone (Morse, 2003).

Currently there are only four states, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas and Oklahoma that have not implemented a graduated driver’s license. Of the 46 states that have, they have experienced a 9-26% decrease in teen crashes (Graduated Driver’s Licensing, 2001).

The NHTSA encourages states to implement a graduated drivers’ licensing system to ease young drivers into the driving environment through more controlled exposure to progressively more difficult driving experiences or driver licensing stages, prior to full licensure (Saving Teens Lives, 2003). The three stages of graduated licensing systems include specific components and restrictions to introduce driving privileges gradually to beginning drivers.

According to Allan Williams of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, beginning drivers, “have to accumulate a lot of experience before they’re able to combine steering with scanning the environment and putting it all together, at the same time.” Training and education programs can help teens learn driving skills, but they don’t produce safer drivers. Teenagers naturally tend to rebel against adult standards and regulations. Peer pressure influences them much more than advice from adults. In fact, teenagers are slower to perceive danger, and when they do, they often don’t relate it to themselves (Storck, 1, 2).

A promising approach to the problem of teenage crash deaths and injuries involves controlling progression to unrestricted driving, lifting controls one by one until a young driver “graduates” to full licensure. Restrictions typically include limits on teen passengers, night driving prohibitions, and requirements that beginners drive only with older, experienced drivers.

In January 2003, the Wyoming House of Representatives created House Bill #80, which attempted to implement a graduated driver’s license in the state of Wyoming for drivers between the ages of 14-20. This bill includes the recommendations of the NHTSA, but it is specific to our state of Wyoming. The following is an example of the proposed bill.

STAGE 1: INSTRUCTION PERMIT

“Any person, who is fifteen (15) years of age, may apply to the division for an instruction permit. The division, after the applicant has successfully passed all parts of the examination other than the driving test, may issue to the applicant an instruction permit, which entitles the applicant while having the permit in his immediate possession to drive a specified type or class of motor vehicle for a period of one year when accompanied by a person at least twenty-one (21) years of age who holds a valid driver’s license and has been licensed as a driver for the type or class of vehicle being used for at least three (3) years, who is fit and capable of exercising control over the vehicle and who is occupying a seat beside the driver.”

STAGE 2: INTERMEDIATE PERMIT

“Any person, who is at least sixteen (16) years of age and has held an instruction permit pursuant to subsection (a) of this section or a similar permit from another jurisdiction and has completed practice driving of at least fifty (50) actual driving hours, including at least ten (10) hours of night driving, may apply to the division for an intermediate permit, valid for not more than eighteen (18) months, that entitles the applicant to drive a specified type or class of motor vehicle. No permit may be issued unless a parent or guardian certifies the applicant has completed the practice driving requirements. Provided that when operating a motor vehicle, a person with an intermediate permit:

1: May not transport more than one (1) passenger under the age of twenty-one (21) who is not a member of the permitee’s immediate family.

2: Shall only be upon a public highway between the hours of 5 a.m. and 11p.m. unless;

a: accompanied by a licensed driver twenty-one (21) years of age or older;

b: required by medical necessity as evidenced by a signed statement from medical personnel;

c: driving to or from work as evidenced by a signed statement from the permitee’s employer;

d: driving to or from school, a school activity or a religious activity as evidenced by a signed statement of a school or religious official or a parent or guardian;

e: required due to a medical emergency”

STAGE 3: DRIVER’S LICENSE

“May apply for a driver’s license no sooner than one (1) year after obtaining an intermediate permit provided this permit had not been suspended or revoked the permitee has not been convicted of a violation in any jurisdiction.”

House Bill #80 also included provisions for a hardship or restrictive license. Currently, anyone who is at least 14 can apply for this particular type of license. It enables them to operate a motor vehicle at a younger age than the law requires due to extenuating circumstances or hardship. In section f, line 22 of the bill, it states that “any person who is at least fourteen (14) years of age and who has applied and been approved for a restrictive license shall apply to the division for an instruction permit. After the applicant has successfully passed all parts of the examination other than the driving test, the division may issue to the applicant an instruction permit which entitles the applicant while having the permit in his immediate possession to drive a class “C” motor vehicle, which is less than 26,001 lbs GVWR/GCWR. Instruction permits last for a period of sixty (60) days and are only valid when accompanied by a person who is at least 21 years of age and fully licensed.”

The House Bill #80 also states that 16 years old who already have a valid drivers’ license will not be affected by this act unless they have had their license revoked or suspended.

By implementing the graduated driver’s license, due to the facts above, we could possibly eliminate half of the traffic accidents in the state of Wyoming for one year (Wyoming Department of Transportation, 2001).

When House Bill #80 went through Wyoming legislation, there were a total of 16 senators in objection to the bill. They felt that it is a family responsibility to incorporate safe driving into their children. It is also a family responsibility to make sure teens have enough experience with a motor vehicle. The bottom line was that these 16 legislators felt that it would be intrusive to personal rights to pass such a bill as the graduated driver’s license. In addition to the opposers, there were a total of 14 legislators in favor of this bill. It was a very close count and with a little more work, the bill could have a positive future.

In an interview with Tom Loftin (personal interview, April 29, 2003) a representative for the Wyoming Department of Transportation in Cheyenne, he stated that the bill was sponsored by Representatives Tipton, Edwards and Wasserburger and Senator Anderson. The sponsors felt that since the votes were so close, they intended to bring it up in the 2004 legislation.

As with any other issue, there are many groups in support of this proposed legislation. Obviously, there are many who would be advantaged by such a law, including insurance companies, (decreased number of accidents among teens) law enforcement, (decreased number of crashes, fatalities, drunk driving incidents, etc.) parents, (safety of their teens) the teens themselves, emergency room professionals, (decreased number of patients from car accidents) and other motorists (decreased number of hazardous drivers during all hours, but especially at night).

There are several special interest groups that could possibly have a stand on this issue. Between 1997 and 2001, Wyoming had 94 drivers between the ages of 14 and 20 involved in alcohol related crashes. Therefore, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) could be one possible special interest group that would be in favor of implementing the graduated driver’s licenses.

Another coalition that might be in favor of this issue is the Wyoming Impaired Driving Coalition. It has published several pamphlets regarding the graduated driver’s license and the positive effects it would bring to the state of Wyoming.

However, even with all of the statistics showing the abundance of teen crashes and the fatalities stemming from them, there are amazingly still opponents of the graduated driver’s license. Many parents believe that the license would be more of an inconvenience due to the constant need of supervision in the early morning and late hours of the day. However, should inconvenience even be a consideration when children’s lives are at stake?

Also, families that live in rural areas may be opponents to a graduated driver’s license due to the fact that children of these families generally begin driving at an early age. Many of these families own large ranches or farms and some of the work requires the ability to drive a motor vehicle.

Above all, implementing a graduated driver’s license in the state of Wyoming would provide an advantage to the overall well-being of everyone in the state but especially the youth. Our roads and highways are dangerous enough without the added dangers of young, inexperienced drivers. The implementation of House Bill #80, obviously with a few minor changes, wouldn’t take away all of the dangers, however it would significantly decrease the number of injuries and fatalities associated with teen drivers.

As previously mentioned, several states have enacted laws regarding graduated driver’s licensing and have been extremely successful with it. Graduated licensing, in combination with improved driver education, holds promise as a way to provide positive incentives for new drivers to drive safely.