It’s a question that is asked across the state of Florida, wherever a new teen driver is turning a key in an ignition.
Is 16 the right age to get a driver’s license in Florida?
Researchers for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety say the answer is no, and they point to statistics to back up the position that raising the driving age makes sense and would save lives.
The insurance institute has pressed the question for years. At this week’s annual meeting of the Governors Highway Safety Association in Scottsdale, Ariz., institute President Adrian Lund is going to push it further. Although Lund doesn’t expect to lobby state legislatures, he said Monday he will advocate for a higher minimum driving age in his speech Tuesday.
The institute’s 17-page report collects research on the minimum driving age from the United States and countries that have higher licensing ages. The research shows states are making progress in reducing the No. 1 killer of teens—motor vehicle crashes—through graduated driver licensing. The laws ease restrictions on teen drivers as they gain experience and keep a clean driving record.
In a prepared statement for release Tuesday, the institute contends research shows “that licensing at later ages would substantially reduce crashes involving teen drivers.”
The example the institute uses most prominently is New Jersey, the only state with a minimum driver’s license age of 17. The report cited a study from 1992-96 in which the rate of crash-related deaths among 16- and 17-year-olds was 18 per 100,000 in New Jersey, compared with 26 per 100,000 in Connecticut, which had a minimum driver’s license age of 16 and 4 months.