The Role of Supervised Driving in a Graduated Driver Licensing Program [Traffic Tech]

NHTSA - Behavioral Safety Researchhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15258642012PDFBriefUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited StatesDriver licensingDriver trainingGraduated licensingHighway safetyStatesSupervisionTeenage driversDOT HS 811 598Traditional Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) systems, in place in all the States, include three licensing stages: the initial learner stage, an intermediate or provisional phase, and full licensure. An important component of GDL systems is the extended learner stage for beginning drivers. This stage gives novice drivers opportunity to gain valuable driving experience under the supervision of experienced adult drivers. Novice drivers rarely crash while they are being supervised by adults, but have the highest crash rates of all age groups during the first six months of unsupervised driving when they become fully licensed. Many States require parents to certify that their teens have completed a certain amount of supervised driving practice, usually 40 to 50 hours, before they are allowed to obtain an intermediate license. Some States stipulate that a certain number of these hours should be accumulated during nighttime driving. Other States have no minimum requirement, but mandate that the teens be supervised for a longer period, such as 9 or 12 months. The following table summarizes the minimum number of supervised hours required in the States. The effectiveness of mandating specific amounts of supervised driving is unknown. NHTSA conducted a cross-sectional comparison of fatal crash rates throughout the United States and examined State-specific crash data using interrupted time-series analysis in a small number of States that had increased their required number of supervised driving hours.129