Critical Opportunities for Public Heath Law: Increasing the Driving Age to 18 Angela Hickey Bettina Makon University of Pennsylvania

A Problem  Motor Vehicle Crashes (MVCs) are the leading cause of death in teens.  Teen drivers aged are 3X more likely to be in a fatal MVC than those 20 and older.  In the year 2010:  2700 teens aged were killed from MVCs  ~7 died per day.  50% of teen deaths from MVCs occurred between 3pm and midnight.  282,000 teens were treated in the ED due to MVCs.  Teenage drivers risk of death in a crash increases 44% with one teenage passenger and quadruples with three or more teenage passengers

 Between , 30,900 fatalities involved year old drivers. Of those deaths, 1/3 were the teen drivers, while the remaining 20,000 were other people, such as their passengers, pedestrians, and others involved in the accident.

Where does Law fit in?  A law increasing the driving age to 18 and thus prohibiting year olds from driving would likely decrease the mortality and associated injuries of MVCs.

Evidence Supporting The Reform  All states use a graduated system when licensing teenage drivers that has shown to decrease crash risk up to 40%. In addition, some states have implemented additional restrictions to further decrease teenage MVCs.  Restricting passengers: All but 7 states forbid more than two teens in a car and 15 states forbid any teenage passengers when a teen is driving  7% lower with one teenage passenger and 21% lower fatal crash rate when no teenage passengers.  Nighttime restrictions  40-60% reductions in teenage crashes.  In NJ:  Licensing age is 17  decreases fatal crashes and lowers injury crash rates.  Red decals on license plates of those under 18  allows restrictions to be enforced by police  prevented 1600 crashes in 1 st yr Strength of Evidence Magnitude of Effect

A Way Forward  Barriers of a new law:  Teens will have to burden family and others for a means of transportation to work, sports activities, to hang with friends.  Opponents claim raising the driving age will punish all young drivers for the mistakes a few of their peers made.  The political environment is already primed for change  states already restrict number of teenage passengers and times of day licensed year olds are allowed to drive. States also receive federal incentives to tighten restrictions.  The financial cost of implementing the law is minimal  states would lose titling and registration fees for those purchasing vehicles and licensing fees for all year olds.  Parents and the teens who pay for car insurance, gasoline, and car maintenance fees could save thousands.