Mesa Police Department Traffic Section
The Need for Graduated Driver Licensing
The Teen Driving
Problem
It has been said many times that children are our most
precious resource. While parents throughout time have loved their children
enormously. today's parents have taken this saying to heart in more visible ways
than previous generations. From the "Caution - Baby On Board" window
decals of the early 1980s to the ubiquitous "My Child is an Honor Student
at..." bumper stickers of today, modern parents use the family car as a
billboard to showcase their parental pride and their children's accomplishments.
But the same motor vehicle that goes from
school to piano in which Mom, Dad and the kids seem to live, may also be the
vehicle in which our teenagers die. Motor
vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for young people 15 to 20 years
of age, causing roughly one-third of all
fatalities in this age group. Even though this age group makes up only 7% of the
driving population, they are involved in 14% of all traffic fatalities.
On the basis of miles driven, teenagers
are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as are all drivers. Why do
young drivers have such poor driving performance? Three FACTORS work TOGETHER to
make the teen years so deadly for young drivers:
Inexperience: All young drivers
start out with very little knowledge or understanding of the complexities of
driving a motor vehicle. Technical ability, good judgment and experience take
time and all are needed to properly make continuous decisions.
Risk-taking Behavior and Immaturity:
Adolescent impulsiveness is a natural behavior, but it results in poor driving
judgment and participation in high risk behaviors such as speeding, inattention,
drinking & driving, and not using a seat belt. Peer pressure also often
encourages risk-taking.
Greater Risk Exposure: Teens often
drive at night with other teens in the vehicle, factors that increase crash
risk. Teen drivers are different from other drivers and their crash
experience is different. Compared to other drivers, a higher proportion of
teenagers are responsible for their fatal crashes because of their own driving
errors:
-
A larger percentage of fatal crashes
involving teenage drivers are single-vehicle crashes. In this type of fatal
crash, the vehicle usually leaves the road and overturns or hits a roadside
object such as a tree or a pole.
-
In general, a smaller percentage of
teens wear their seat belts compared to other drivers.
-
A larger proportion of teen fatal
crashes involve speeding, or going too fast for road conditions.
-
More teen fatal crashes occur when
passengers are in vehicles driven by other teenagers.
By restricting when teenagers may driver,
and with whom, GRADUATED driver licensing allows new drivers to gain
much-needed on-the-road experience in controlled, lower-risk settings. It also
means that a teenager will be a little older and more mature when he or she
gains a full, unrestricted license. After the young driver demonstrates
responsible driving behavior, restrictions are systematically lifted until the
driver "graduates" to full driving privileges.
(Compiled from NHTSA sources)
A reminder from the Mesa Police Traffic Section...
Don't Run Red
Lights…….It's Illegal and It's Lethal
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