![]() The questionnaire was adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC’s) National Youth Risk Behavioral Survey (NYRBS) (Eaton et al. This study utilized a teen driver questionnaire to provide estimates and baseline information on teen driving behaviors in our state (Table 1). ![]() We surveyed the students to assess knowledge of the Alabama GDL law and prevalence of high-risk driving behaviors in 2018 and compared those to the original responses from 2009. This was a prospective observational study of high school students ages 14 to 19 years old. Since our state has high teen driving fatality rates, our objective in this study was to determine the prevalence of high risk driving behaviors (including non-use of seat belts, texting and drinking while driving) among area teens in 2018 and to evaluate changing rates of self-reported risky driving practices and knowledge of the state GDL by teens compared to those in 2009. We began hosting crash course teen driving events at high schools in our state in 2009 and have continued these events to present day. Graduated Driver Licensing laws, driving instructional classes, parent teen driving contracts, and pediatrician counseling have all been suggested as means of influencing teen driving fatalities. There has been acknowledgement that strategies targeting the general population do not necessarily have the same effect on all segments of the population (Juarez et al. These findings suggest that not only are interventions to increase seat belt use by young people greatly needed, but also that targeted messages among teens-based on age, gender, race, and urban/rural and regional differences (Juarez et al. Numerous surveys conducted in high school parking lots indicate typical teen belt use is about 50–60%, depending upon the state and the school (McCartt and Shabanova 2002), but that rates of seat belt use among teens vary dramatically based on age, gender, race, and urban/rural setting and region of the country. According to various NHTSA sponsored state and national safety belt surveys, youth 16–24 years old are observed wearing safety belts at rates 5–15% below rates for those older than 24 years (Williams et al. According to 2004 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data, 17% of young drivers 16–20 years old had a blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.08%, the level at which all states define drunk driving (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2005). ![]() They are more likely to engage in other risk-taking behaviors as well. Adolescent drivers tend to engage in numerous risky behaviors such as driving over the speed limit, which has been found to significantly correlate with a greater risk for crashes (Elander et al. Inexperience and immaturity both contribute to high crash rates involving teen drivers (McKnight and McKnight 2000). According to the state Department of Public Health, alcohol, non-seatbelt use, and distractions are the three primary contributing factors to teen driving deaths (Alabama Department of Public Health n.d.). Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws were enacted in Alabama in 2002, with strengthening of those laws in 2010 and again in 2015. Alabama, the state in which this study occurred, consistently ranks among the worst 10 states in the nation for teen driving fatalities (Teen driving safety 2019). (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) 2010). In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers 16 to 19-years old are three times more likely than drivers 20 years and older to be involved in a fatal crash. The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention n.d.). Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are the number one cause of death for teens in the U.S. ![]() The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
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