Testimony Presented Before the Transportation Committee

Testimony Presented Before the Transportation Committee

TESTIMONY PRESENTED BEFORE THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

February 20, 2008

Marian Storch, Public Health Initiatives Branch, 509- 7751

5043 - An Act Concerning Teen Drivers.

The Department of Public Health 5043 including the Governor’s recommendation to move the night time driving restrictions from midnight to 11:00 p.m.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Connecticut teens and are responsible for 39% of all deaths among 16 and 17 year olds.1 Motor vehicle crashes are also a significant cause of inpatient hospitalizations and emergency department visits for teens. Between 2000-2004, over 1,500 Connecticut teens, 15 to 19 years of age were hospitalized due to motor crashes and approximately 29,000 were injured seriously enough to be treated in emergency departments.2,3 Teenage drivers have higher rates of involvement in fatal and injury producing crashes than older drivers. Connecticut teen drivers aged 16-17 years are more likely to be injured seriously enough in a crash to receive medical treatment than 18-19 year old drivers or 35-49 year old drivers. They are one and half times more likely to die in a crash than 18-19 year old drivers and more than twice as likely to die than 35-49 year old drivers. 4

A number of factors contribute to the higher crash involvement of teenage drivers including lack of experience and driving skills and risk taking behavior. Crashes involving teen drivers have different characteristics than those of adult drivers. Teen crashes are more likely to involve night driving, multiple teen occupants, driver error, excess speed and other risky driving practices.5,6 Speeding is more likely to be a contributing factor in Connecticut crashes involving 16-17 year old drivers than it is for 18-19 or 35-49 year old drivers.4 Connecticut drivers aged 16-17 years are also more likely to be “at fault” drivers than either older teens or 35-49 year older drivers.4

Numerous studies have proven Graduated Driver License (GDL) systems as effective public health policy interventions to reduce crash risks for young drivers.7 GDL laws allow young drivers to gain experience and develop judgment and driving skills in supervised and low risk driving situations. A recent nationwide review GDL laws found states with the strongest GDL systems have rates of 16 year old driver fatal and injury crash involvement that were 38% and 40% lower respectively than states without three stage GDL systems.8

The provisions of House Bill 5043, which include increased hours of on the road supervised driving practice, extended nighttime driving restriction, and increased length of time for teenage passenger restrictions will strengthen Connecticut’s GDL laws and help to reduce toll from the leading cause of death among teens in our state.

Thank you for your consideration of the Department’s views on this bill.

References

  1. CT Department of Public Health Vital Records 2000-2004
  2. CT Office of Health Care Access Hospital Discharge Data 2000-2004 for teens 15-19 years.
  3. CT Hospital Association CHIME, Emergency Department Data 2000-20004 for teens 15-19 years.
  4. CT Department of Public Health Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) 2002-2004
  5. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Fatality Facts 2006: Teenagers
  6. American Academy of Pediatrics. Policy Statement: The Teen Driver. 2006
  7. NHTSA. Counter Measures That Work, 2nd Ed., 2007.
  8. Baker SP Chen L, Li G. Nationwide Review of Graduated Driver Licensing. AA Foundation for Traffic Safety 2007.
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