Young driver licensing systems in the U.S.

Status Report, Vol. 47, No. 4, May 31, 2012 — Cover story: How to make young driver laws even better (PDF)

News release, May 31, 2012: States could sharply reduce teen crash deaths by strengthening graduated driver licensing laws

Research papers:

Graduated driver licensing laws and insurance collision claims frequencies of teenage drivers (PDF)

Graduated licensing laws and fatal crashes of teenage drivers: a national study (PDF)

This is an electronic version of the article, “Graduated Licensing Laws and Fatal Crashes of Teenage Drivers: A National Study,” published in Traffic Injury Prevention, June 2010, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 240-248, and available here.)

Calculator methodology

Printable summary table of all young driver licensing laws

For every state and D.C., the Institute has estimated the effects of strengthening or weakening 5 key GDL provisions: permit age, practice driving hours, license age, and night driving and passenger restrictions. The projections are based on research showing what matters most when it comes to preventing fatal crashes and collision claims among teen drivers.

This calculator uses the results of that research to show how changes to state provisions might affect collision claims and fatal crash rates among young drivers. To get started, select a state from the list below:

Young driver licensing systems in the U.S.

Choose your state:

Best GDL provisions by state as of May 2012

Permit age of 16:

65 supervised practice hours:

Licensing age of 17:

8 p.m. night driving restriction:

No teen passengers: