Brief Report: The Association of Graduated Driver Licensing with Nondriver Transport-related Injuries Among Adolescents.

BACKGROUND: As a phased approach to initiating driving, graduated driver licensing restricts driving by young drivers with the aim of reducing crashes. It might increase riding with parents or on buses, which might be safer, or walking or biking, which might be more dangerous. We examined whether it increases non-driver injuries, and whether it reduces total injuries combining drivers and non-drivers. METHODS: We conducted longitudinal analyses of 1995-2012 traffic injuries from 43 states. Using Poisson mixed regression, we estimated adjusted rate ratios (aRR) for visible, incapacitating, and fatal injury. RESULTS: Among 16 year olds, graduated driver licensing was associated with reduced passenger injuries (aRR 0.93, 95% confidence interval: 0.89, 0.97). It was not associated with increased injuries as bus riders, pedestrians, or bicyclists among 16 or 17 year olds. It was associated with a 10% reduction in total injuries among 16 year olds, but not 17 year olds. CONCLUSIONS: Graduated driver licensing was associated with reduced passenger injuries and total injuries. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially. Language: en