Good morning Chairman Ciotto, Chairman Cocco, and members of the Committee on Transportation. I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about graduated driver licensing. Graduated driver licensing is an important step that will reduce needless deaths and injuries on Connecticut's highways and help thousands of young drivers in Connecticut to adjust to their new driving responsibilities.

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress to investigate transportation accidents, determine their probable cause and make recommendations to prevent their recurrence. The recommendations that arise from our investigations and safety studies are our most important product. The Safety Board has neither regulatory authority nor grant funds. In our 35-year history, organizations and government bodies have adopted more than 80 percent of our recommendations.

The Safety Board has recognized for many years that traffic crashes are one of this nation's most serious transportation safety problems. More than 90 percent of all transportation related deaths each year result from highway crashes. And a disproportionate number of these highway crashes involve teenage drivers between the ages of 15 to 20, young people who have only recently obtained their license to drive.

Today I want to discuss three key points about graduated driver licensing. First, teen drivers are involved in an alarming number of crashes. Second, the Safety Board supports a model graduated driver licensing program that provides teen drivers with necessary experience before they receive the benefits and privileges of full licensure. Third, graduated driver licensing saves lives, and reduces both injuries and crashes.

Teen Drivers Are Involved in An Alarming Number of Crashes

Crash rates, especially for 16-year-olds, are a cause for alarm. A number of studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the states and others have shown that 16-year-olds are more likely to be involved in single vehicle crashes, be responsible for the crash, be cited for speeding, and have more passengers than older drivers. Such crashes are most likely to occur from 10 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.

Crash rates for teen drivers are significantly higher than crash rates for other driving populations. Teen drivers comprise about 6.7 percent of the driving population, but, according to NHTSA, teen drivers are involved in more than 14 percent of the highway fatalities and 17 percent of all police-reported crashes. Although teen drivers are on the road at night only 20 percent of the time, 50 percent of their fatalities occur at night. Traffic crashes account for 40 percent of all deaths among 15-20 year olds, making traffic crashes the leading cause of death for this age group.

Crash statistics for Connecticut are even more ominous. In recent years, teen drivers have been involved in an increasing number of fatal crashes. In 2001, 312 people died in crashes; 81 deaths occurred in crashes involving teen drivers. That means that while teen drivers account for no more than 7 percent of the driving population, they were involved in 26 percent of the fatalities. Even the lowest percentage of fatalities involving teen drivers, 15.5 percent in 1998, is higher than the national average of 14 percent.

Teen drivers also generally have more passengers than older drivers, and these passengers are usually the drivers' peers, resulting in a deadly combination of inexperience and immaturity. Teen drivers and their vehicle occupants frequently do not use seatbelts. Two-thirds of teenage vehicle deaths occur in vehicles driven by teenagers. More teenagers die in vehicles driven by 16-year-olds than in vehicles driven by 17-, 18-, or 19-year-olds. When the Safety Board studied this issue in 2002, the Board found that teen drivers were involved in 6,796 single-vehicle fatal crashes from 1997 through 2001. Sixty-seven percent of the fatally injured passengers involved in these crashes were between the ages of 15 and 19, and 17 percent were younger than 14 years of age.

The current system does not teach young people to drive; it teaches them to pass a test. Learning to drive is a long-term process, one that cannot be effectively managed through the traditional driver education program. Once young people learn the mechanics of driving, they should receive additional "on-the-job" training, without unnecessary distractions, and with the assistance of a more mature and experienced driver. As their skills and maturity develop, teen drivers can proceed to full licensure.

Model Graduated Driver Licensing Program

In a 1993 study of underage drinking and licensing for young drivers under the age of 21, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that Connecticut and the other states implement graduated driver licensing (GDL), the comprehensive provisional license system for teen drivers. In 2002, the Safety Board revisited this issue and added a passenger restriction to its GDL recommendation. Based on a model developed by NHTSA, GDL imposes restrictions so that initial driving occurs in less dangerous circumstances (daytime and with adult supervision at night) until the driver has had an opportunity to gain experience. Restrictions are lifted after successful completion of the driver development period.

The model GDL program consists of a learner's permit, an intermediate or provisional license, and a full license. This program also promotes driver education, parent participation, restricted night driving, and rapid corrective action following at fault crashes and violations. As recommended by the Safety Board and supported by the states through the model law developed by the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances, the basic elements for a GDL program are:

_ Mandatory seat belt use and zero tolerance of alcohol use at each stage.

_ Accelerated penalties for at-fault crashes or traffic violations at each stage.

_ Minimum 6 month holding period for the learner's permit, during which the permit holder is supervised by a licensed driver, who is at least 21-years old.

_ At least 50 hours of supervised driving practice with a licensed driver, who is at least 21-years old.

_ Minimum 6 months without at-fault crashes or traffic violations before proceeding to the intermediate or provisional license.

_ Minimum 6 month holding period for the intermediate or provisional license.

_ Prohibit intermediate or provisional license holders from driving at night unless supervised by a licensed driver, who is at least 21-years old.

_ Prohibit intermediate or provisional license holders from carrying more than 1 passenger under the age of 20 unless supervised by a licensed driver, who is at least 21-years old. This condition should last until the intermediate or provisional license holder receives an unrestricted license or for at least 6 months, whichever is longer.

_ Minimum 6 months without at-fault crashes or traffic violations before proceeding to full licensure.

Beginning drivers should be introduced gradually to the driving experience. They should be provided the maximum time to practice, under the safest possible real-world conditions. They should be given the opportunity to develop gradually the skills needed for full licensure. We need to identify quickly young problem drivers before bad habits and behaviors become ingrained, and then take action to correct those problems. The National Safety Council has described this system of graduated licensing as "training wheels for young drivers." This analogy makes good sense, we do not proceed from walking to riding a bicycle in one step. We need training wheels to make the process safer.

Graduated Driver Licensing Saves Lives

There has been a revolution in driver licensing laws in recent years. Virtually every state has strengthened its system for granting driver licenses to teen drivers. As a matter of fact, Connecticut is surrounded by states with comprehensive licensing programs for teen drivers. States and other countries have experienced great success with GDL.

Florida enacted a graduated licensing system in 1996. In its 1999 study, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found a 9 percent reduction in the fatal and injury crash rate among 15, 16, and 17-year-olds in Florida during the first full year of graduated licensing, compared with 1995.

North Carolina implemented a comprehensive graduated licensing system with a 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. nighttime driving restriction in December, 1997. A recently published study of North Carolina's crash data found a 29 percent reduction in injuries and deaths involving 16-year-old drivers. Nighttime crashes (during the restricted hours) decreased more than those during daytime hours. Both the number of crashes and the rate, based on population, declined dramatically.

Preliminary reviews from other states with recently enacted graduated licensing laws have consistently shown significant crash reductions:

· Michigan - For 16-year-old drivers, the risk of being involved in a crash in 1999 was 25 percent lower than the risk in 1996.

· Delaware - For 16-year-old drivers, fatal crashes decreased by 43 percent and all crashes decreased by 42 percent. For 17-year-old drivers, fatal crashes decreased by 72 percent and all crashes decreased by 21 percent.

A brief chart documenting the effectiveness of GDL in other states is attached; please note that all states have reported a positive result in terms of reduced crashes.

Nighttime driving restrictions are especially effective in reducing crashes. A 1984 study of nighttime driving restrictions in four States found among 16-year-old drivers that crashes were reduced by 69 percent in Pennsylvania, 62 percent in New York, 40 percent in Maryland, and 25 percent in Louisiana. Because many of these crashes occur in the evening hours, the earlier in the night that the restriction starts, the greater the crash reduction that is achieved. Many States include conditions or exemptions related to work or school, and may limit routes or number of passengers as well.

Many parents and even young drivers support the restriction when they understand the justification for it. A November 1994 survey by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that 74 percent of parents of 17-year-olds favor night driving restrictions for beginning drivers. Of those in favor, 48 percent preferred a restriction beginning at 10 p.m. A telephone survey of 16- to 18-year-olds in four states with such restrictions indicated that 63 percent of the teens in Illinois, 67 percent in New York, 80 percent in Pennsylvania and 47 percent in Indiana, were in favor of some kind of night driving restrictions for beginning teenage drivers.

More recently, the Insurance Institute conducted follow-up surveys in 1999 of parents in Connecticut and Florida whose children had recently obtained their driver's licenses. These parents were even more supportive than they had been during initial interviews in 1996, before their teenagers had begun the licensing process. Few parents reported that the laws had inconvenienced them. Many were in favor of additional requirements, such as passenger restrictions, that were not currently part of their states' laws.

Highway crashes involving young drivers will remain a serious and persistent problem unless concrete and comprehensive steps are taken. Our young people are this Nation's most valuable resource, one that must be nurtured and protected. Too many of them are being killed and injured unnecessarily.

Connecticut is one of only a small number of states without a comprehensive GDL program. It is time for Connecticut to enact a comprehensive GDL system. The Safety Board is so convinced of GDL's life saving benefit that we have included GDL on our "Most Wanted" recommendations list. We strongly believe that GDL is one of the most effective actions that the Connecticut Legislature can take this year to save both young lives and the lives of others involved in crashes with young drivers.

Thank you again for providing me the opportunity to testify about this important initiative. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.