Clearly, teen drivers in Arkansas have the highest crash risk of any age group in the state with tragic consequences. The problem is the worst among the youngest motorists, age 16 and 17, who have the most limited driving experience and an immaturity that results in risk-taking behind the wheel.

The solution that most other states have employed are comprehensive graduated driver licensing laws that contain restrictions on teens to help them gain practice behind the wheel under the safest possible conditions. There has been a revolution in driving licensing laws in the last decade, with virtually every state strengthening their GDL systems. Learning the fundamentals of driving and becoming comfortable in traffic require concentration and practice. Effective GDL measures remove distractions and reduce risky situations for novice drivers so they can focus on the road and gain the experience they need.

Unfortunately, Arkansas’s GDL system doesn’t contain several of the components that teen license laws require to make them effective in reducing injuries and deaths. These components–including supervised driving practice and restrictions on passengers and nighttime driving–have been proven in dozens of studies to be the keys to keeping young drivers safe as they learn the rules of the road and the intricacies of driving.

Among the most compelling of the studies was performed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Injury Research and Policy. Funded by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the report found that 16-year-old drivers are involved in 38 percent fewer fatal crashes and 40 percent fewer crashes resulting in injuries if their state has a GDL program with at least five of seven components, several of which Arkansas does not have. The seven components included in the study were:

• A minimum age of at least 16 years old for receiving a learner’s permit.
• A requirement to hold the learner’s permit for at least six months before receiving a license that allows any unsupervised driving.
• A requirement for certification of at least 30 hours of supervised driving practice during the learner stage.
• An intermediate stage of licensing with a minimum entry age of at least 16 years and six months.
• A nighttime driving restriction for intermediate license holders, beginning no later than 10 p.m.
• A passenger restriction for intermediate license holders, allowing no more than one passenger (except family members).
• A minimum age of 17 years for full, unrestricted licensure.

The study also found that in states with GDL laws that have four of the seven components, 16-year-old drivers were involved in 21 percent fewer fatal crashes and 36 percent fewer crashes with injuries.

“Strengthening your graduated driver licensing law is an important step that will reduce needless deaths and injuries on Arkansas highways and help thousands of young drivers in Arkansas to adjust to their new driving responsibilities,” advised Steve Blackistone of the National Transpor-tation Safety Board during a hearing of the Transportation Committee of the Arkansas Senate in 2007. “A comprehensive GDL system is one of the most effective actions that the Arkansas Legislature can take to save both young lives and the lives of others involved in crashes with young drivers.”

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