Commentary

Graduated licensing programmes and young-driver crashes

In 1997, the Georgia General Assembly enacted the Teenage and Adult Drivers Responsibility Act (TADRA), a comprehensive legislative package that attempted to reduce fatal crashes of teenaged drivers by introducing graduated driver’s licensing, “zero tolerance” of underage impaired drivers, and automatic license revocation for speeding greater than 25 miles per hour over the posted limit and other dangerous driving behaviors. To determine whether TADRA reduced teen driving fatalities, we examine fatal crash rates involving various age groups before versus after the law was enacted.

Data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System were used to calculate annualized fatal crash rates of various age groups of drivers during an 11-year interval 5½ years before TADRA was enacted and 5½ years afterwards. To identify potential historical effects, Georgia’s experience was compared to that of Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee, states that did not adopt equally comprehensive legislation during the study period.

During the preenactment period, 317 Georgia drivers aged 16 were involved in a fatal crash (57/100,000 person-years) compared to 230 in the postenactment period (36/100,000 person-years; risk ratio [RR] 0.63; 95% confidence interval 0.53 to 0.75). Speed-related fatal crashes were cut by 42%, and alcohol-related fatal crashes decreased nearly 60%, without displacing fatal crashes to older age groups. These reductions greatly exceeded those noted in 2 of 3 comparison states and the nation overall.

TADRA markedly reduced fatal crash rates among 16-year-old Georgia drivers. Fatal crashes were not displaced to older age groups.