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Most teen-agers dream of the day they can drive. To a 16-year-old, a driver's license is a ticket to freedom, the key to a new world of personal mobility. Having a license means they can cruise around after school, take a date to the movies, or cram a bunch of friends in the car and head to the football game.
And many young drivers demonstrate the skills and maturity needed to successfully and safely negotiate Missouri roads. But many others, a disproportionate amount, do not fully comprehend that with a license comes tremendous responsibility–and risk.
| One young person was killed or injured every 43 minutes in Missouri traffic crashes from 1995–1999. |
In fact, 628 such teens in Missouri age 15–18 who were cruising after school, on dates, heading to the football game and driving for other reasons were killed in traffic crashes between 1995 and 1999. Another 60,350 were injured in wrecks in the same five-year time period.
Nationwide, the 16- to 20-year-old age group accounts for about 7 percent of the driving population but is involved in 14 percent of all fatal crashes. Teens fare much worse in Missouri, where 15- to 20-year-old drivers make up about 10 percent of all drivers but are involved in nearly 32 percent of the total traffic crashes.
Motor vehicle crashes have become the leading cause of death across the country for virtually all people between the ages of 5 and 24, outdistancing deaths from homicide, suicide, other accidental injuries, drug dependency, cancer or heart disease. In all, 7,975 teens age 15–20 across the country lost their lives in 1998 traffic crashes, an average of about 22 deaths each day.
As chilling as these statistics are, the situation could become more dire. In the next 10 years, the teen population is expected to rise 25 percent, from about 21 million teens now to more than 26 million in the year 2010.
Yet the cost of their learning to drive doesn't have to be so tragic. Safety advocates believe that a new licensing system that has been enacted in Missouri–and in states across the country–can help halt this frightening trend.
AAA was among numerous health and safety organizations that encouraged the Missouri Legislature to adopt three-stage driver licensing, commonly known as graduated driver licensing (GDL). Under graduated systems, learning to drive is spread over an extended period with restrictions placed on teens at each stage, such as the time of day they are allowed to drive. Thus, they gain more behind-the-wheel experience and are gradually introduced to the traffic system. At least 44 states now have some sort of GDL system in place.
A core component of Missouri's GDL program is the requirement of 20 hours of in-the-car training from a parent or legal guardian. In fact, a parent must accompany their teen to the license bureau twice: first to provide written permission and later to verify they have administered the instruction.
What follows is a look at the magnitude of the problem and a review of the new law, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2001. By raising awareness of the seriousness of the novice driver safety issue, AAA hopes to help curb the rising number of teen deaths on Missouri roads. Behind the wheel doesn't have to be an unsafe place for teens.
Next: Number of teens licensed in Missouri growing >>
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