A program being launched in Michigan high schools to make students safer drivers is a great example of efforts that can pay off in terms of fewer teens killed and seriously hurt, according to Online Auto Insurance (OAI).
Studies have shown that teenage drivers are more likely than other motorists to cause crashes, which has lead insurers to consider them a greater risk and has kept even the
best priced auto insurance for teens expensive.
A safe-driving initiative sponsored by AAA Michigan, Ford and the state Office of Highway Safety Planning aims to reduce the carnage that too often results from teen drivers’ inexperience and bad habits behind the wheel.
The program, which is expected to be taken to as many as 50 Michigan high schools over the course of the school year, will get teens to talk to each other about dangerous behaviors including speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol or while distracted.
Statistics show that programs that make teens stop and think about risky behaviors—including graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs that require a longer and more rigorous learning period before teens earn full driving privileges—really work.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motorists from 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to get into crashes, with auto accidents accounting for one-third of teen deaths nationwide.
But research has shown that GDL programs make a difference. The number of fatal crashes nationwide involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers fell by 36 percent from 2004 to 2008, a decline that safety officials attribute in part to GDL programs.
GDL programs across the country include three phases through which teens must pass in order to qualify for full driving privileges, including a supervised learning period, an intermediate license that restricts when and with whom teens may drive and a full license once all other requirements are met.
In Michigan, teens found guilty of violating the restrictions of their GDL licenses must take a driver reassessment examination. Depending on the violation, state officials may suspend driver’s licenses for anywhere from 30 days to a year, lengthening the time it takes to earn full driving privileges.
