Teen Driving
About
Getting a license is an important milestone for many teens, but being a beginning driver carries special risks. Teen drivers have crash rates 4 times those of drivers 20 and older per mile driven. Driving vehicles that meet important safety criteria for teen drivers along with graduated licensing programs reduce teens' driving risks. Watch the video and explore the resources below to learn more. Explore the resources below to learn more.
Recommended vehicles for teens
- Watch the “Best Vehicles for Teens” video (at the top of this page).
- Check out the annual list of new vehicles for teens compiled by IIHS-HLDI in collaboration with Consumer Reports.
Young Driver Safety – A Guide for Parents
This IIHS guide for parents covers finding the right vehicle and setting the right ground rules.
Driving skills check list
- Parents: Use this checklist to assess your teen’s skills and reflect on their progress as they gain experience during supervised driving.
What is Graduated Driver Licensing?
Graduated driver licensing (GDL) is designed to provide beginning drivers with an opportunity to gain experience behind the wheel under conditions that minimize risk.
There are three stages in a graduated system:
- a supervised learner’s period;
- an intermediate license, which is granted after a young driver passes a road test and which limits driving in high-risk situations (e.g., at nighttime or with teen passengers); and
- a license with full privileges.
How can strengthening GDL laws save lives?
Follow the directions below to use the IIHS’s Graduated Licensing Calculator (see below) to see how changing state provisions might affect collision claims and fatal crash rates among young drivers.
- Go to the Graduate Licensing Calculator.
- Scroll down the page to find “Estimate the effects of teen driver licensing changes in.”
- Select a state.
- Click and slide the white dot to change the state’s current GDL provisions.
- Note the responding increase and decrease in collision claims and fatal crash rates.
Additional Teen-related Resources
Other highway safety research areas
Explore IIHS research on key highway safety issues that help policy makers, safety professionals, vehicle manufacturers and the wider public understand what works and doesn’t to prevent crashes from happening and to minimize injuries in the crashes that still occur.
