Tennessee's Graduated Licensing Law Shows Positive Results, Study Says

Posted & filed under Teen Drivers, Tennessee Car Insurance.

Tennessee, says Phillip Doss, director of the state’s Offices of Research and Educational Accountability, has made progress with the reduction of traffic fatalities among teens. His remarks were made to a local newspaper, in response to questions about a national campaign to make the minimum driving age sixteen.

In Tennessee, teenagers are able to apply for their learners’ permits six months after turning fifteen, and can be licensed at sixteen with restrictions. The state is currently ranked sixth in the nation for fatal automobile crashes involving teen drivers, in a national study conducted two years ago by Allstate Insurance.

A recent study of the effectiveness of the graduated driver’s license law in Tennessee concluded that states with higher minimum driving ages have lower rates of teen driver-related accidents and deaths.

Jacqueline Gillan, vice president of the nonpofit group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, says “This is a major public health problem.” Her group is one of those lobbying for higher minimum ages. She adds, “Teens are dying on our roads. This happens every day, in every community in the country.”

Tennessee’s graduated driver’s license law went into effect ten years ago, as part of an effort to ease teenagers into the responsibilities of driving, and to reduce the number of unsupervised hours they spend on the road. After getting their learner’s permits, sixteen-year-old drivers can qualify for an intermediate license which allows them to drive without supervision, as long as there is no more than one passenger in the car, between the ages of 6:00 AM and 11:00 PM.

A study released this month by the state comptroller’s office says that the program has had some success in the decade since its inception. Specifically, the number of traffic crashes involving teen drivers has decreased from 136 per every 1,000 drivers aged 15-24 in 2005, to 111 per 1,000 young drivers in 2009.

“We’ve been aware for some time that automobile accidents were the leading cause of death for young people,” said Phillip Doss, “On paper, you’d have to say it looks pretty good,” he added, noting that the number of fatal accidents involving teen drivers has generally been trending down over the past decade, although the most recent statistics show fatalities still tragically high.

In 2000, the year graduated driver’s licenses became law, there were 189 fatal crashes involving teen drivers in Tennessee.