Teen driving has always been a major concern for parents as well as for government authorities. There are so many intricacies involved when a teenager takes up driving. According to research, the risk of crash is highest for drivers who are around 16-year old, due to their immaturity and lack of driving experience. However, in recent times it seems that the initiatives from the government’s end have a signification effect in reducing fatal accidents among young drivers.

In September 2002, a series of five research papers published in a supplement of Injury Prevention that address reducing the crash risk among young drivers. The papers significantly emphasize on graduated driver licensing (GDL), the system of laws and practices that gradually introduce young drivers into the driving population.

In United States of America, graduated licensing programs are found in total thirty-one states. A GDL program allows teen drivers to gain driving experience prior to obtaining full driving privileges. Basically, these programs target 14 to17 year old teen drivers.
There are states that require the presence of an adult along with a valid driver’s license, when a teen drives the vehicle. Besides, the teen is also required to enroll in a certified Drivers Ed course, along with having a learner’s permit for at least 3-6 months before taking an “operators driving license” test. Graduated driver licensing programs allow teens to gain the driving experience in a family vehicle during aforementioned 3-6-month period with a parent.

Notification is a precautionary measure that can be taken in order to reduce accidents among teen drivers. Notifying other drivers on the road will definitely help them to consider choices when approaching a vehicle operated by a teen driver. This way, we can definitely increase traffic safety and awareness among driver population. In this concern, car magnets prove to be a great notification tool. These are easy to put and easy to take off and help keep the road safe to a certain extent!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.