Better Integrating Driver Education and Training within a New Graduated Driver Licensing Framework in North America

Abstract

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) and driver education are two safety measures for teen and new drivers that have been widely adopted in North America, often in isolation from one another. Driver education pre-dated GDL and has remained relatively unchanged from its inception, whereas GDL has undergone enhancements although the pace of change has slowed down. GDL has proven safety effectiveness which has not been the case for driver education, although a few recent studies have had promising results on the safety value of both traditional and nontraditional programs. This paper makes the case for integrating driver education with enhanced GDL to better address the elevated crash risk of teen drivers. It recommends that driver education be multi-phased and more closely aligned with the tiered structure of GDL and that the National Driver Education Standards (NDES) become the new “norm” for driver education. It also provides guidance for improving the content and delivery of driver education, including the use of nontraditional teaching techniques and training approaches. Future efforts to integrate and improve GDL and driver education, however, need to be researched using solid evaluation designs to ensure they have safety effects and contribute to GDL’s overall success.