Oregon teen licensing changes have safety benefits.

PDFTech ReportRSN 08-01Teenage driversDriver licensingData collectionTraffic safetyDriver educationCrash injury researchCollisionsPassengersNightParentsLawsOregonOregon. Dept. of Transportation. Research UnitOregon. Dept. of Transportation. Research UnitUS Transportation CollectionChanges in Oregon\ue2\u20ac\u2122s teen licensing laws that went into effect in March 2000 significantly strengthened the provisional driver license program, which had been in place since October 1989. Nearly all states and Canadian provinces have some form of a graduated driver license (GDL) program, but Oregon\ue2\u20ac\u2122s is considered to be one of the most comprehensive.Data on the involvement of 16-year-old drivers in fatal and injury crashes seem to indicate that Oregon\ue2\u20ac\u2122s GDL program has had significant safety benefits. In 2004 the rate of involvement of 16-year-old licensed drivers in fatal and injury crashes was 25 percent less than in 1999, the year before the expanded law went into effect. Crash rates declined for older teenagers as well, but at a rate closer to that of the rest of the driving population.A recent study completed by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety compared GDL programs in place in Oregon and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The TIRF study was designed to assess what components seemed to contribute to GDL program success and what improvements could be made