Teens Driving Without a License Crash More

This article on Newswise.com states:

The 2006 National Young Driver Survey (NYDS) of more than 5,500 teens across the country revealed that about six percent of students in grades 9 through 11 reported driving unsupervised without a license. However, according to the national fatality data, a full 20 percent of 14- to 18-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2006 did not have a license. This means unlicensed teens are significantly over-represented in fatal crashes.

Teens who drive without a license are usually doing so because they are unable to obtain or sustain a license, yet they continue driving. The thing is, I would think it is very hard to figure out if a teen is driving without a license – unless it is your own teen, of course. But say your teen wants to ride home from school or the movies with a friend who does not have a license? How do we know? I had stopped asking this question mainly because my daughter’s friends all got to the age where they should be allowed to have friends in the car with them as they drive – our state has the rule of no friends in the car for 6-months. But after reading this I think it may be prudent to start asking again or I could add it to our parenting contract on teen driving.

What do you think? Will you be asking your teen if his/her friend has a license? What if they don’t and you know the teen is driving, would you report it? Share your thoughts, opinions and family stories in our comments area.

Related Resources:

• How To Set the Limits on Driving
• Statistics for fatal crashes involoving teen drivers
• Why does graduated driver licensing enhance motivation for safe driving?