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To the Editor: Dr Chen and colleagues¹ found that teenaged drivers are at higher risk of motor vehicle crashes when they transport passengers or drive late at night. Chen et al recommend graduated driving privileges, but the initial results of such restrictions in California have been disappointing. California's graduated licensing law restricts new drivers younger than 18 years from driving alone, driving between midnight and 5 AM, and transporting other teenaged passengers unless accompanied by a driver aged 25 years or older. In its initial year, the law effectively applied to 16-year-old drivers.

Supporters of the law initially claimed that it reduced crashes.² However, complete Highway Patrol data contradicted that claim. In the graduated licensing law's initial year, July 1, 1998, through June 30, 1999, the fatal crash rate for 16-year-old drivers increased by 41% (the largest annual increase on record), and the injury crash rate increased by 0.5%.³ These . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Carrying Passengers as a Risk Factor for Crashes Fatal to 16- and 17-Year-Old Drivers
Li-Hui Chen, Susan P. Baker, Elisa R. Braver, and Guohua Li
JAMA. 2000;283(12):1578-1582.
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