Trends in driver licensing status and driving among high school seniors in the United States, 1996-2010.

Introduction: Understanding the reasons for fluctuations in teenage driver crashes over time in the United States is clouded by the lack of information on licensure rates and driving exposure.

Methods: We examined results from the Monitoring the Future survey to estimate the proportion of high school seniors who possessed a driver's license and the proportion of seniors who did not drive "during an average week" during the 15-year period of 1996-2010.

Results: During 1996-2010, the proportion of high school seniors in United States who reported having a driver's license declined by 12 percentage points (14%) from 85% to 73%. Two-thirds of the decline (8 percentage points) occurred during 2006-2010. During the same 15-year period, the proportion of high school seniors who did not drive during an average week increased by 7 percentage points (47%) from 15% in 1996 to 22% in 2010, with essentially all of the increase occurring during 2006-2009.

Discussion: Findings in this report suggest that the economic recession in recent years has reduced rates of licensure and driving among high school seniors.