Graduated licensing for teens: why everybody's doing it.

While the United States traditionally has allowed quick and easy paths to full-privilege licensure of drivers at an early age, graduated licensing is becoming increasingly popular. The graduated licensing system phases in unrestricted driving by allowing beginners to get their initial behind-the-wheel experiences under conditions that reduce the risk of collision. As of June 2002, 35 states and the District of Columbia had enacted some sort of graduated licensing law. Recent evaluations of graduated licensing systems in four states have found reductions in crashes among 16-year-old drivers ranging from 11 to 33 percent. Yet, not all states have such laws, and many of the graduated licensing systems in use lack important provisions, such as nighttime driving and passenger restrictions. This article reviews the rules, restrictions, and provisions of the graduated licensing model; discusses evaluations of graduated licensing systems; identifies and analyzes variations in graduated licensing approaches across states; assesses the successes and failures of early graduated licensing laws, using New Mexico as an example; and discusses the potential of these systems to prevent injuries.