Study shows laws curb teen car accidents

A recent study from the Indiana Public Policy Institute at IU–Purdue University Indianapolis found new restrictions on teen drivers caused a steep reduction in car accidents involving young drivers.

The new law was enacted in two phases and was intended to amend Indiana Graduated Driver’s License system. The first phase began in July 2009 and limits the number of passengers a young driver can carry, restricts night driving and prohibits cell phone use behind the wheel.

Phase two of the law took effect in July 2010. It changed the minimum age for obtaining a probationary driver’s license to 16 years and six months for individuals with driver’s education and 16 years and nine months for individuals who have not had any driver’s education.

The primary goal of the change is to give young drivers more time to gain experience on the road. Teen drivers must complete a probationary phase lasting 180 days in order to graduate to an actual operator license.

For the study, data was compiled from Indiana records of teen car accidents from 2008 to 2010 for drivers ages 15 to 17.

“This is a prime example of data-driven policy in that we knew intuitively that teens were problem drivers, but without analyzing crash and tickets data we couldn’t identify the most effective way of responding.”
- Matt Nagle, author of the report and senior analyst with the Public Policy Institute

FROM THE STUDY

Accidents involving drivers age 16 to 16 and a half, whom the GDL system targets, decreased 83 percent.

Accidents involving all drivers younger than 18 decreased 13.7 percent from 2008 to 2010.

Implementation of a GDL system shows measurable difference in frequency and severity of teen driving accidents.

Crashes where a teen driver was considered at fault also decreased dramatically in 2010.