Young driver licensing and COVID-19
Abstract
This commentary examines the available evidence of the safety benefit for current approaches to driver education and licensing for teenagers, and describes a number of promising alternatives that could complement existing approaches prelicensure.These include strengthening graduated driver licensing requirements during the learner permit stage, validating online driver education, and introducing hazard perception training.During the licensing phase, driver testing could include hazard perception testing and be supplemented by simulated driving to screen teenagers who are likely to fail the behind the wheel test.Post-licensure, parent-teen driving agreements and driver monitoring technologies represent two underutilized, but potentially effective interventions to reduce teenagers' crash risk during independent driving.As states consider changes to the driver education and licensing process in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, policy makers and practitioners could take the opportunity to update their policies and implement state-of-the-art approaches to prevent motor crashes, which persist as the leading cause of death for young people.Shortly after the first cases of the COVID-19 in the USA, a number of US states, including Georgia, Wisconsin, and Texas, suspended the on-road driving test for teenagers to obtain a driver's license.
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- Authors
- Ehsani, J. P., & Kinnear, N.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Transport Research Laboratory (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Ehsani, Johnathon P
- Venue
- Injury Prevention
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2021-02-11
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 574-576
- ISSN
- 1353-8047 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-5785
- OpenAlex
- W3127767377
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 0.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Injury Prevention (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality › Traffic and Road Safety
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Older Adults Driving Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Injury Epidemiology and Prevention
- Keywords
- young drivers, driver licensing, graduated driver licensing, COVID-19 pandemic, driver training, hazard perception training, driving simulation, traffic accidents
- MeSH terms
- Accidents, Traffic, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Automobile Driving, Humans, Licensure
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