I would like to see statistics on the time of day of fatalities. Although I can well understand that more crashes would occur during higher traffic hours, I'm also certain that a much higher percentage of night crashes would result in fatalities.
Teen researchers examine graduated driver's license
· By: Katie Mastoris and Kristen Cucinotta
· Date: 2000-08-18
Comments (25) Join conversation
The authors are 13 year old middle school students from Westampton, New Jersey, USA. They participated in the Research Offered for Gifted And Talented Education (R.O.G.A.T.E.) program and received a Bronze Award. They were required to create a hypothesis, conduct research, and then make a 12 minute presentation on their findings to a panel of judges, either proving or disproving the hypothesis.
Congratulations to Kristen and Katie from Drivers.com! We hope you continue to examine these issues.
Why do kids dream of the day they will turn seventeen? Seventeen is the magic age when they will get their driver's license. Teenagers have been fantasizing about the dream car they have always wanted. Well, that all may soon change. Teenagers just might be waiting a little longer to get their full privileged driver's licenses.
We, like so many of our peers, are anxiously awaiting our driving privileges. We decided to research the subject of the New Graduated Driver's License. The hypothesis we set out to prove or disprove was: The changing of the traditional license law to the Graduated License Law will not have any effect on accidents in a given year .
The Graduated Driver's License would still enable New Jersey teenagers to obtain their permit at the age of sixteen, but full license privileges would not go into effect until the age of eighteen. At age seventeen, the number of unrelated people driving in the car with you as the licensed driver would be limited, as would driving between the hours of midnight and five in the morning.
Our research included visiting many web sites and reading a lot of magazine and newspaper articles, including summaries about a young teenage boy who was killed in an accident from either stupidity or anger. Both LIFE Magazine and Time Magazine gave statistics on the number of accidents caused by teenage drivers and included data on the time of day the accidents occurred. The articles showed that even hard working, responsible teens with good grades were often the cause of accidents and were sometimes ticketed for their driving mistakes. Only a few of the web sites we visited discussed the new Graduated Drivers License Law, but those that did indicated they believed that the number of accidents and deaths would most likely be reduced. We sent out many letters, questionnaires, and e-mails to experts in the field, as well as to parents, new drivers, and experienced elderly drivers. We asked them what age group they believed cause the most accidents and why they think that age group causes the most accidents.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety sent us books filled with charts and statistics supporting our hypothesis for the years 1997 and 1998. We also received statistics and charts from the American Coalition for Traffic Safety in Virginia supporting our hypothesis that the Graduated License Law would not reduce the number of deaths. Although three of our six primary resources agreed with our hypothesis, the other three did not.
Most of the research we gathered stated that teens, elders, and males cause most of the accidents. As you can see in the following charts, the results of our surveys show that most people believe 15 - 19 year old drivers cause the most accidents, and this is mainly due to inexperience.
The time of day that crashes occur is another huge reason why states are moving
in the direction of the Graduated License Law. The chart below shows that most
accidents occur between noon and five o'clock in the afternoon.
Source: Minnesota Motor Vehicle Crash Facts Table 1.28
According to the above chart, between the time of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., when
the graduated license law bans teens from driving, the least amount of accidents
occur. Why would legislators ban teens during a time when the least amounts
of accidents occur?
In conclusion, we have found information to both prove and disprove our hypothesis: The changing of the traditional license law to the Graduated Driver's License Law will not have any effect on accidents in a given year . Therefore, our hypothesis was inconclusive. All drivers must understand and obey the laws of the road. If not, there will surely be many more restrictions in the years to come.
However, even if the Graduated License Law is not in effect when we become
eligible for our driver's licenses, we are certain that our parents will be
instituting a "Graduated Driver's License" of their own. We know they will
not allow us to drive beyond 11 o'clock at night and will not allow us to have
more than one other person in the car at any time. So whenever the new system
is put into effect, perhaps there will not be as much impact as predicted. 
Comments
Toni Ziganash, on Wednesday, 26. July 2006 at 11:40 AM
Johann, on Tuesday, 29. August 2006 at 08:40 PM
Night time crashes could never be as high as day time crashes due to the fact that more people are awake during the day than at night. Higher volume of traffic and visability is better but as might notice though day time drivers are considerably slower in speed than at night generally speaking. I have driven deliveries for 16-18 hours a day 4 times a week and I've noticed this driving behavior. I believe though that night time accidents result in single accidents not usually involving another car given fact that less cars are on the road. It all depends were you are and when you drive.
I think graduated licencing is a waste of time and money for the most part. Much stricter driving tests are needed and letting people on the road because the person is able to make a few turns and park without crashing at that moment won't help at all for safety.
Putting a 16 year old behind that wheel is not unusual 10 years ago but I bet that only a few were capable of controlling a car and being responsible. It all depends on the person not the suggested age or gender. Bring in a much more strict testing system for people and then you'll find that much less people are on the road and find that more responsible drivers take up a bigger fraction than just few, like it is now.
Thanks, on Wednesday, 13. December 2006 at 12:41 PM
This site really helped me out write a reasearch paper on Graduated Licenses. Your facts and statistics really help out my paper. Thanks!
Screw you, on Monday, 22. January 2007 at 11:26 PM
You, my friend(s), are a complete douchebag for writing this.
You are also a noob.
That is all.
Thank you, on Tuesday, 23. January 2007 at 08:16 PM
without u my research paper would be a disaster. Oh, and plz don't post messages with bad language on it!!!
~~~~~~~~~me, on Tuesday, 23. January 2007 at 08:19 PM
All Kilmer Students rock my world
ED - Drivers.com, on Wednesday, 24. January 2007 at 12:32 AM
To those who left compliments above - thanks, we're trying. To those who left wacky remarks - we try not to censor too much. To those who left offensive language - take time. You'll mature. We get these every now and again and remove them as soon as possible.
To those who think driver ed is boring - yeah, OK. We're working on that.
a m b e r <3, on Friday, 16. February 2007 at 11:13 AM
Wow ! I Think That Teens Should Be Able To Drive ! And They Shouldnt Have To Go Through That Two Years Bull$h!t Of Having To Drive With Someone Who Has There Liscence!
Jacob, on Friday, 09. March 2007 at 10:26 AM
I wish that you would give more factual statistics. The belief and oppinion piechart is pretty cool and interesting, but it doesn't give enough information that you can use.
nathan, on Wednesday, 14. March 2007 at 12:40 PM
it is a very good idea that you are trying 2 help change the age because to many teens now try to drink/drive, do drugs, party and have sex
Amanda, on Wednesday, 21. March 2007 at 11:04 PM
As it happens, I am researching a similar hypothesis and current stats show that the GDL does in fact decrease the over all number of crashes involving 15- to 19-year-olds. This is, of course, in the states that have at least a 3 step license procedure. Further, 41% of injuries resulting in death for teens between the ages of 15-19 involve motor vehicles. Think about it.
HIS SHOWSTOPPER, on Monday, 26. March 2007 at 12:37 PM
I AGREE THEY SHOULD HAVE TO REQUIRE A CERTAIN REQUIREMENT TO DRIVE
Taj, on Monday, 09. April 2007 at 07:23 PM
i'm gonna copy your paper and put my name on it and say that i wrote it!!!Ilove Google!!!!!!yippeee......you suck.
Anonymous, on Sunday, 06. May 2007 at 02:06 PM
Plagiarising is illegal...Taj, you could get arrested.
Sybil, on Wednesday, 05. September 2007 at 08:48 PM
I'm impressed with the level of research from such young scholars.
I'm also impressed that, unlike a handful of their critics, they are able to formulate a rational argument without name-calling. (or Excessive CaptaliZation and PunctuaTion!!!!!)
Poor Taj. Should we tell him his teacher can simply type a string of eight or ten words from his paper into any search engine (including his beloved Google) and find this page? Nah! Let's let him enjoy the discovery learning method!
Wayne, on Saturday, 15. September 2007 at 06:56 PM
I am reading your comments with interest, I have been instructing for some 47 years aroud the world and have ended up in New Zealand where the driving age starts at 15 with no compulsory insurance and drive vehicles such as WRX's, twin turbo'd Skylines etc. Many 15 + year olds drivers break their licence restriction and from some of the, shall I say childish remarks, on this forum I presume that this type of attitude in car results in what we are seeing in NZ including 5 15 year olds dead last week-end.
Siobhan, on Tuesday, 16. October 2007 at 05:27 AM
hey im from new zealend nd there are good reasons behind why our ages are so young such as we are a rural country and thats where we get most of our money from as a country so many times it is impossible for parents to drop their work and drive their kids 10-20+ minutes into town nd i mean town not the city so there are no bus or trains that you could catch nd also how are us 15yr old or teenagers supposed to get experience if it is illegal to drive and lastly i knew those fifteen yr olds so id appreciate it if you new the whole story before you go saying stuff like that cuz theres a whole other side of the story that you obviously don't know.Beside its not the age its the tutoring the responsibility the circumstance and sadly the gender for all you males(yes statistics prove it)
Café_Mõcha, on Wednesday, 21. November 2007 at 01:40 PM
Yes, your report did make mine easier. I found your pie charts very useful. I would just like to pose a question:
Should the elderly be allowed to drive? If so, what can we do to prevent/lower accidents from happening because of the conditions of the elderly? (taking into account their reaction times and eyesight).
Molly Cousins, on Monday, 26. November 2007 at 03:01 PM
I have to debate the topic of whether or not Virginia driver's licenses should be restricted.....I have to say that they shouldn't be restricted. I'm having a hard time coming up with any information that supports this side. I feel that graduated licenses are a good thing, and have resulted in safer drivers, but the side I have to defend says there should be no restrictions. Any help? Where should I look?
Russell Carter, on Sunday, 02. March 2008 at 01:02 AM
I live in Ontario, Canada and the system here is similar ... one receives a "G1" license at age 16 which is similar to a permit ... then "G2" is received 12 months later at the minimum, followed by the regular "G" after yet another 12 months at the minimum ... as encouraging as the system may sound, it is just too long
chisa, on Tuesday, 13. May 2008 at 08:15 PM
thank you so much for your report, some info of yourse really helped! ofcourse i used qoutes when copying some of your information...i hope u dont mind ^.^ this really helped my papers and im amazed that someone my age could write something like this...im eternaly in your debt xp
chisa, on Tuesday, 13. May 2008 at 08:20 PM
excuse my spelling XP
I am better then u, on Tuesday, 26. August 2008 at 10:39 AM
I have a debate tomorrow on if the driveing age should be raise ur paper didnt help 1 bit. Thnaxs for nothin!!!
hi, on Thursday, 02. October 2008 at 04:36 PM
I have an opinion essay on this so thanks
billy, on Friday, 14. November 2008 at 12:28 PM
this is stupid
everybody should die
GO DIE LOSERS!!!!
what is this article about anyway?
piloting a plane?
who knows
