Improving states' capacity to reduce young driver crashes

Background/Purpose: Graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems reduce motor vehicle crashes among young teenage drivers. Benefits are greater with more comprehensive GDL systems. However, misunderstanding of how GDL works is widespread. To address this, we developed a process to help states assess their licensing system, use state data to identify needs, and frame teen driver crashes as a public health issue. We assessed the effectiveness of this approach. Stakeholders participated in a 1½ day workshop to discuss their state's teen crash burden, identify risk and protective factors for teen crashes, and provide understanding of how the licensing system can help reduce teen driving risk. They developed action plans and we provided follow-up technical assistance as requested following the workshops. Methods: Qualitative measures included pre-workshop interviews with key stakeholders in each state and follow-up interviews conducted several months after the workshop. Quantitative measures included retrospective pre-test questionnaires administered at the end of each workshop. Results/Outcomes: We assisted four states: Iowa, Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Each state demonstrated improvements in their understanding of the concept of GDL, use of data to educate stakeholders regarding teen driver risk and GDL, articulation of evidence-based strategies to reduce teen driving risk, and their ability to develop a state action plan to reduce teen driving risk. Conclusions: Our methods demonstrated success in four states to improve state capacity to address young driver risk and can be used as a model for other states to develop plans to reduce teen driver crashes.