Licensing age issues: deliberations from a workshop devoted to this topic.

Objective: To highlight the issues and discuss the research evidence regarding safety, mobility, and other consequences of different licensing ages.

Methods: Information included is based on presentations and discussions at a 1-day workshop on licensing age issues and a review and synthesis of the international literature.

Results: The literature indicates that higher licensing ages are associated with safety benefits.

Using Crash Data to Develop Simulator Scenarios for Assessing Novice Driver Performance.

Teenage drivers are at their highest crash risk in their first 6 months or first 1,000 mi of driving. Driver training, adult-supervised practice driving, and other interventions are aimed at improving driving performance in novice drivers. Previous driver training programs have enumerated thousands of scenarios, with each scenario requiring one or more skills.

On-road and simulated driving: concurrent and discriminant validation.

Introduction: A converging pair of studies investigated the validity of a simulator for measuring driving performance/skill. STUDY 1: A concurrent validity study compared novice driver performance during an on-road driving test with their performance on a comparable simulated driving test.

Results: Results showed a reasonable degree of concordance in terms of the distribution of driving errors on-road and errors on the simulator.

Effects of age and experience on young driver crashes: review of recent literature.

Objective: Although both youth and inexperience contribute to the elevated crash rates of teenage drivers, the relative contribution of these factors has not been firmly established.

Methods: A review was undertaken of eleven recent (1990 or newer) studies that tried to separate the crash effects of age and experience, represented by length of licensure.

Results: The weight of evidence is that age and experience have important, independent effects on crash risk, even after differences in driving mileage are accounted for.

Graduated licensing and beyond.

Although graduated driver licensing has successfully reduced the young driver problem in Canada and the U.S., this is still a major problem and more needs to be done.

Driver education and graduated licensing in North America: past, present, and future.

Problem: A stated objective of driver education in North America is to produce safer drivers, typically defined as drivers less likely to crash. This paper examines the extent to which driver education has achieved this objective independently as well as the extent to which such programs can support the success of graduated licensing in reducing young driver crashes. In so doing, it discusses past experiences, recent developments, and the future direction of driver education and training in relation to graduated driver licensing.

Collisions involving senior drivers: high-risk conditions and locations.

Objectives: To better understand the characteristics of crashes involving senior drivers 65 and older, studies of these crashes were reviewed.

Methods: The review focused primarily on North American studies published since 1990. Studies point to important differences between the crashes of senior drivers and those of younger drivers.

Specific and long-term effects of Nova Scotia's graduated licensing program.

A graduated licensing (GL) program was introduced in Nova Scotia, Canada, in October 1994. Previous research has shown that it reduced collisions in the short term. The present study examined the relative contribution of each stage of the program (i.

Changes in collision rates among novice drivers during the first months of driving.

As a group, young drivers have crash rates that far exceed those of older, experienced drivers. But even among teenagers there are age-related differences; crash rates decline consistently and dramatically with each yearly increase in age. A more precise understanding of how crash rates decline within the teenage group might provide insights into when experience is most influential.

Trends in fatal crashes involving female drivers, 1975-1998.

Since the mid-1980s there has been concern about the growing number of female drivers in the US involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes, and similar trends have been noted in other parts of the world. The present study examined whether this trend has continued into the 1990s and the reasons for it. Fatal crash data were obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), mileage data from the National Personal Transportation Survey, and licensure data from the Federal Highway Administration.

The learner's permit.

Problem: This paper considers the role and value of an extended learner's period in a graduated licensing system.

Method: Review and synthesis of the literature.

Results: The learner's permit allows beginners to practice under supervision before attempting the road test for a driver's license.