Online Auto Insurance: Graduated Licensing Laws Key to Curbing Teen Fatalities

    RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA, April 06, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A recent study by insurance provider State Farm and The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) showing a wide range of fatality rates involving teen drivers across different states stresses the role that graduated driver's licensing (GDL) laws can have in reducing young-driver death rates in the U.S., reports Online Auto Insurance.

The yearly report, titled "Miles to Go: Monitoring Progress in Teen Driver Safety," found that vehicle crashes account for 1 of every 5 teenage deaths in the U.S., are still the leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-olds and kill youngsters at almost five times the rate of cancer or poisoning. Teens' proclivity for taking risks and high crash rates have made them a high-risk auto insurance group.

Researchers found that fatality rates varied significantly state to state and that those with stronger GDL provisions generally had better crash statistics. The national average annual fatality rate was 9.5 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2009-2010, a 41-percent decrease from 2005-2006, when that average was 16.2 deaths per 100,000 teens.

The study applauded some states for making strides in reducing the number of fatalities involving young motorists from 2005 to 2010. For example, Massachusetts reduced its already lower-than-average rate between 2005 and 2010 by 55 percent. The state now has the lowest average annual fatality rate at 3.9 deaths per 100,000 teens.

New Jersey, New York, Arizona and Rhode Island also saw similar drops between 2005 and 2010, with declines of 52 percent, 33 percent, 69 percent and 22 percent, respectively; all those states have comprehensive GDLs, according to State Farm.

In fact, researchers said, the 12 states that have implemented comprehensive GDL and evidence-based programs during the study period reduced teen fatality rates by more than 50 percent in six years.

"We should use the success stories in states with the greatest reductions to fuel progress in states still burdened with high numbers of teens dying in crashes and suffering serious brain injuries," Dennis R. Durbin, the report's lead author, said in a statement. "Those success stories typically involved comprehensive GDL and primary enforcement belt laws."

The study defined a comprehensive GDL law as including at least 50 hours of adult-supervised practice under varied conditions; limiting teen passengers for the first year of independent driving; restricting nighttime driving without a supervisor; requiring seat belt use for all passengers and the driver; and prohibiting cell phone use.

OAI recommends that parents look at the study to see how safe their newly licensed driver is on the road in relation to the GDL programs their state has. Just as much as car insurance in Texas is different from car insurance in California, GDLs also widely differ state to state.

The CHOP study showed that, even though there was improvement, Texas ranked above the national average in teen crash fatality rates in 2005-2006 and still is, registering 16.7 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2005-2006 and 11 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2009-2010.

Texas's GDL is a two-phase process that bars teens from using mobile devices while driving and restricts the number of underage passengers, but has no requirements about the number of hours driven with an adult and seat belt use for the driver and all passengers.

Source: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/driverlicense/graduateddriver.htm

California, on the other hand, has always been below the national average, with 11.3 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2005-2006 and 4.3 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2009-2010, signifying an impressive 62.2 percent drop. Its GDL includes prohibition of cell phone use and at least 50 hours of driving practice, including 10 hours at night.

For more on this and other car insurance issues, head to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/texas/ for access to informative resource pages and an easy-to-use quote-comparison generator.

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