The Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) is pleased to release the report, An evaluation of graduated driver licensing programs in North America. This study analyses the relative fatality risks of 16-, 17-, 18- and 19-year old drivers using a meta-analytic approach and was the result of a collaborative effort between TIRF and the Transportation Research Institute at Hasselt University in Belgium (IMOB).
Reviews of the evaluation literature to date have confirmed the overall beneficial safety effects of graduated driver licensing (GDL), but have provided few reliable insights into which GDL programs are most effective and which specific program features are most successful. The objectives of this study were to calculate a summary statistic of GDL effectiveness, to identify the most effective components of GDL programs, and to help understand how GDL components achieve their effect.
An article on this study entitled, An evaluation of graduated driver licensing programs in North America using a meta-analytic approach appears in Accident Analysis and Prevention and is available online through the DOI System (www.doi.org). The doi number for this article is 10.1016/j.aap.2009.06.024.
Funding for this project was graciously provided by Transport Canada and the Transportation Research Institute at Hasselt University, Belgium.
About TIRF
Established in 1964, TIRF’s mission is to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries. As a national, independent, charitable road safety institute, TIRF designs, promotes, and implements effective programs and policies, based on sound research. TIRF is a registered charity and depends on grants, contracts, and donations to provide services for the public. For more information, visit http://www.tirf.ca/.
