Driver Licensure

1
Driver Licensure

• C. Raymond Bingham
• rbingham_at_umich.edu

2
Overview

• History of US Driver Licensure
• History of US Driver Education
• Progress in Licensure and Safety

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(Source FHWA Table DL-230, 1997)
1960
1950
1940
1930
1920
1910
1900
DC
Iowa
Utah
Ohio
Idaho
Texas
Maine
Hawaii
Illinois
Alaska
Florida
Oregon
Arizona
Indiana
Kansas
Nevada
Virginia
Georgia
Vermont
Alabama
Montana
Missouri
Maryland
Michigan
Delaware
Colorado
Arkansas
New York
Nebraska
Kentucky
Wyoming
California
Louisiana
Minnesota
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Tennessee
Mississippi
New Jersey
Washington
New Mexico
Connecticut
North Dakota
Rhode Island
Pennsylvania
West Virginia
South Dakota
North Carolina
South Carolina
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
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History of Driver Licensure
(Source Flink, JJ, 1952 America Adopts the
Automobile)

• Initial motivation
• In some cases due to safety concerns
• Most cases apparently to raise revenue
• Drive license examination required later
• Early licenses cost 0.50 (6.31 2009 USD)
• Licenses issued at gas stations
• Washington requirement in 1921
• Applicant provided two signatures
• indicating they were competent drivers and
• no physical problems that would impair driving

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History of Vehicle Registration
(Source Bellamy, P, 1970 Filler Up)

• Initial motivation to raise revenue
• Safety inspection of vehicles not required until
  much later
• New York was -- 1.00 (26.13 2009 USD)
• 954 vehicles registered in 1901
• 128 more in 1902
• Issued as a metal disc motorist carried in their
  pocket

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History of Driver Education
(Source Stack, HJ, 1966 History of Driver
Education in the United States)

• Rarely offered prior to 1937
• C.E. Minnick
• 1938, 18 schools in Maryland, 1000 students
• 1940
• American Association of School Administrators
• Yearbook Commission
• Recommended safety education in schools
• Specific inclusion of driver education
• First recognition of need for safety education by
  profession

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History of Driver Education
(Source Stack, HJ, 1966 History of Driver
Education in the United States)

• Resulted in broad acceptance by school
  administrators
• 1947, gt3000 schools, nearly 200,000 students
• 1965, gt13,000 schools, gt1.7 million students
• 68 offering 30 and 6 courses
• National Conference on Driver Education
  recommended a full semester

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History of Driver Education

• Effectiveness
• Early evaluations encouraging
• Studies made support the position that those
  completing a high school driver education course
  experience fewer accidents and/or are convicted
  of fewer violations than their age-mates not
  completing such an instructional program.
• (Source Hartman, C H., 1969 Driver
  Education in the Schools)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  (NHTSA) has taken the position that a quality
  High School Driver Education (HSDE) program is
  capable of a 10-15 effect in terms of reducing
  the probability of crash involvement among
  persons exposed to it.
• (Source 1976, The Driver Education Evaluation
  Program (Deep) Study. A Report To The Congress)

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History of Driver Education

• Effectiveness Evaluations
• Many conducted by proponents of Driver Ed
• Little reliance on statistical comparisons
• Poorly controlled or completely uncontrolled
• Criteria used were not consistent
• No agreement on what outcomes to use
• No standard approach to measuring outcomes
• No consistency in the calculation and use of
  rates versus raw frequencies

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History of Driver Education

• Effectiveness
• DeKalb Study (1983)
• Funded by NHTSA, conducted by Batelle
• Many confounding variables
• Did not support a safety effect
• Recent reviews continue showing no safety effect
  of Driver Ed.
• (Source Vernick, J. et al., 1999 Effects of
  high school driver education on motor vehicle
  crashes, violations, and licensure)
• What effect might Driver Ed. be having?
• Standardization of understanding of laws
• More predictable driving behavior
• Should Driver Ed. have a safety effect?

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Progress in Licensure and Safety

• Lots of variation in licensing laws
• Driver education optional
• Provisions for early licensure
• Earlier licensure correlates with higher crash
  rates
• Twenty-two states have laws providing for the
  issuance of a license to a person under the usual
  minimum licensing age if he has successfully
  completed an approved driver education course.
• (Source 1967 Lower Licensing Age for
  Driver Education Students)

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Progress in Licensure and Safety

• Teen crash rate patterns predictable
• The need for instruction of youth and for adult
  supervision and monitoring of new young drivers
  for extended periods after licensing
• (Source NTSB, 1971 Special Study - Youth
  and Traffic Safety Education.)
• Roberts noted (1981) that
• Adult presence associated with lower crash rate
• Recommended a higher licensure age and a
  nighttime restriction
• (Source Roberts, L.A. Journal of Health
  Politics, Policy and Law)
• New Jersey's 17-year-old licensing law associated
  with reduced fatal crash involvement.
• Estimated 65 to 85 percent reduction in fatal
  crash involvement if the licensing age is
  increased from 16 to 17
• Without increasing fatal crash rates at older
  ages
• (Source Williams, A.F. et al., 1983
  American Journal of Public Health)

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Progress in Licensure and Safety

• The concept of a graduated licensing system was
  first described by Pat Waller
• Idea based on research conducted at the
  University of North Carolina in 1970s.
• NHTSA developed model system in 1977. Never
  adopted at that time
• (Source Simpson, H.M., 2003 Journal of
  Safety Research)

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Progress in Licensure and Safety

• Currently
• Continued variation in driver licensure laws
• Parent-taught
• Discussion of providing DE over the Internet
• 49 states and DC have some form of GDL in place.
• Still, many are GDL in name only
• Short holding periods
• Short restriction intervals
• Weak restrictions
• Michigan, sadly, is falling behind other states

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Now What?

• Weve come a long way
• We have a long way to go
• Should consider role and expectations of Driver
  Education
• GDL is promising
• Jean Shope will provide more info on GDL this
  afternoon
• Stay tuned!