Helping New Teen Drivers Gain The Experience They Need to Become Safe Drivers North Dakota Conference on Injury Prevention and Control October 29, 2008 Justin McNaull AAA Director, State Relations

AgendaAgenda  The Teen Driver Safety Challenge  Graduated Driver Licensing  The National Picture  Legislative Efforts  Community Efforts  What Can Be Done in North Dakota

Impact of Teen Driver Crashes  5,000+ teen deaths per year  Nearly two-thirds of people killed are people other than the teen driver  Passengers, other vehicle occupants, pedestrians, cyclists  Injuries have greater “cost” than deaths  Kids at significant risk well before they start driving  Fatal crash risk begins to increase as young as age 12

Crash Rates By Age ( GES data; IIHS, 2006)

Why Do Teens Crash?  Lack of experience  Immaturity/risky behavior

Reducing Teen Driver Deaths: How? To reduce teen driver deaths and injuries, you must reduce teen crashes. How?  Reduce driving by teens  Reduce driving by teens under risky conditions  Reduce individual dangerous driving actions by teens

Reducing Teen Driver Deaths: Broad Strategies  Graduated driver licensing  Driver training for teens  Parental involvement  Technology/monitoring  Change teen attitudes about safe driving  Societal shift

Graduated Driver Licensing  Learner’s Permit (Age 16)  Allowed to drive with licensed parent or other adult  Mandatory holding period (6 months)  Required practice time (50 hours)  Driver education  Intermediate License (Age 16 ½)  Allowed to drive on your own  No night driving (10 p.m.)  No/limited teen passengers (No more than 1)  Required holding period (6 months)  Full license (Age 17)  Allowed to drive on your own, no limits

GDL: Passenger and Night Limits GDL: Passenger and Night Limits (Effective Jan. 1997) Night Restrictions Only (10) Passenger Restrictions Only (0) Both Passenger & Night Restrictions (1) Neither (39+DC)

GDL: Passenger and Night Limits GDL: Passenger and Night Limits (Effective Jan. 2003)

GDL: Passenger and Night Limits (Enacted as of October2008) (D.C.) Night Restrictions Only (7) Passenger Restrictions Only (1) Both Passenger & Night Restrictions (39 + DC) Neither (3)

GDL Components Vary Greatly  Night Limits: Dusk to 1 a.m. start times  Passenger Limits:  None to “no more than seat belts”  No family allowed to no pax under age 17  Learner’s Holding Periods: 12 months to 10 days  Certified Practice Hours: 100 to 20  Learner’s Age: 16 to 14  Solo Driving: 17 to 14 and 3 months  Farm/school permits  “Short cuts” for driver education

GDL Lobbying: Who’s Involved?  Safety Groups  Law enforcement  Other government  Insurers and other private sector  Medical community  Driver ed community

GDL Lobbying: What’s Working?  Data  Sad stories  Media coverage  Grassroots/constituents

Cost of Teen Driver Crashes  Contracted with PIRE for state-by-state analysis of cost of teen driver crashes  $34 billion total costs nationwide  $9.8 billion for fatalities  $20.5 billion for injuries  $4.1 billion for property damage crashes  North Dakota – $117 million (16 deaths, 1,698 injuries, 4,069 crashes)  Using it as a lobbying tool  Already used in KS, NH, MN  Released nationally in April

GDL Lobbying: Myths that Hurt Us  Driver education is sufficient  Strict GDL systems interfere with parental rights  Components of GDL systems are un- enforceable  GDL doesn’t fit with rural lifestyles  Passenger restrictions increase crash- risk exposure for teens  “Teens will be teens” and not even GDL systems produce behavior change

GDL Lobbying: What’s Next  “Color in the map” – Arkansas, North Dakota, Kansas  Improve deficient components – 49 states fall short of “model”  Non-core GDL efforts – “N” stickers, enhanced punishments, parent- requirements for driver ed, etc.  Federal GDL bill

Other Efforts  Parent involvement  Parent-teen driving agreements  Checkpoints program  Parent outreach programs  Monitoring devices  Community involvement  Adult driven  Peer-to-peer  Changing culture of teen driving

What Can North Dakota Do?  Programs  Think “behavior change”  Use parents, schools, other “institutions” that afford regular contact  Experiment  Evaluate  GDL  Keep your target simple  Build a broad coalition  Be strategic  Learn the politics  Use data  Use the media to build public support

GDL Lobbying: Myths that Hurt Us  Driver education is sufficient  Strict GDL systems interfere with parental rights  Components of GDL systems are un- enforceable  GDL doesn’t fit with rural lifestyles  Passenger restrictions increase crash- risk exposure for teens  “Teens will be teens” and not even GDL systems produce behavior change

GDL Lobbying: What’s Next  “Color in the map” – Arkansas, North Dakota, Kansas  Improve deficient components – 49 states fall short of “model”  Non-core GDL efforts – “N” stickers, enhanced punishments, parent- requirements for driver ed, etc.  Federal GDL bill