Teenage driver licensing in relation to state laws.

Previous studies have shown that delaying licensure reduces motor vehicle injuries. This study examined the relationship between licensing laws and the timing of obtaining drivers licenses. The states studied have various laws, including minimum licensing ages of 15, 16 and 17; minimum learners permit ages of 15 and 16; and teenage night driving curfews. A questionnaire survey of 52,304 students was conducted in 75 high schools during the spring of 1983. The schools were selected from Orange County, California; rural Colorado; and most or all of Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York. The results indicated that the minimum age of licensure has obvious strong effects in delaying licensure. Setting the learners permit age later also apparently delays licensure. The night driving curfew in New York State (9 p.m.-5 a.m.) is seen by students as a factor in their decisions to delay obtaining licenses; Louisiana's 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew has a much smaller effect, if any.