AAA plan would change teen driving laws

By Julie Vallese
CNN Consumer Safety Editor

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A plan that would gradually give teenagers full driving privileges could drastically reduce the number of auto accidents in the next decade, the American Automobile Association said on Wednesday.

The Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) programs include nighttime driving restrictions, passenger restrictions and incentives for staying crash-free and conviction-free.

RESOURCES Susan Pikrallidas: Graduated licenses for teen drivers   ALSO Teen driving laws limit passengers

If states enact such programs into law, AAA spokeswoman Susan Pikrallidas said, the nation would see 1.5 million fewer crashes, half a million fewer injuries and 500 fewer deaths of teens 16 to 17 years old over the next 10 years.

"We want the strongest laws possible," said Pikrallidas. "That is why AAA and its partners ask all states to examine their GDL measure and to make the necessary changes that we now know will make a difference."

"Enacting GDL laws in all states is the centerpiece of AAA's national Licensed to Learn campaign, which began in 1997. To date, 44 states have some form of GDL law," according to a news release on the AAA Web site.

GDL programs, such as the one being implemented in Tennessee in July, would issue a learner's permit to 15-year-olds but would require them to be accompanied by a licensed driver who is at least 21 years old. It also prohibits them from driving between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Sixteen-year-olds would be issued an intermediate license only if they have a set number of hours behind the wheel and have held their learner's permit for 180 days. They are also prohibited from driving between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless accompanied by a licensed driver 21 years or older.

In addition, a limit is placed on how many passengers can be in the car.

An unrestricted license would be issued to 17-year-olds who have held an intermediate license for at least a year.

Jennifer Reeves said she believes her 18-month-old daughter would be alive today if passenger restrictions would have been in place in Texas.

"If this bill had been passed two years ago I would not be here talking about this today," Reeves said. "The bill that was passed [in Texas] has a passenger limit which limits one passenger under the age of 21 in the vehicle at a time, and it would just prevent any of the inexperienced mistakes that the drivers make from happening that are distracted by the other drivers in the car."

Reeves' daughter, Hannah, was killed when a 16-year-old driver rear-ended their vehicle. The teenager had only received her license a few months before the accident and was driving three of her friends around in a pick-up truck.

According to AAA, Texas would be able to prevent more than 40,000 injuries, and 125,000 crashes if it implemented the plan. Over the course of 10 years the state would save more than $870 million.

A less populated state such as Alaska would prevent more than 3,000 crashes, 970 injuries and save more than $21 million, the group said. The cost savings estimates include costs for property damage, travel delay, medical needs, pre-mature funeral costs, vocational rehabilitation, market productivity, insurance administration and legal costs.

Since 1997 the number of states with graduated licensing restrictions has grown from eight to 45 and the District of Columbia.