Driver Safety Tips

Learning to drive is something many teens look forward to. To help keep you safe and minimize your risk of a collision, here are some tips from Choose Safety for Life:

1. Always wear your seat belt and make sure all your passengers buckle up, too.
2. Be sure your windshield is clean. Light reflecting off a dirty windshield can momentarily blind you.
3. Never try to pack in more passengers than there are seat belts in the car.
4. Keep your gas tank filled. Don't ride around on an empty tank as you could get stranded.
5. Obey all speed limits for both maximum and minimum speeds.
6. Don't run red lights or stop signs.
7. Come to a complete stop at lights or stop signs.
8. Use your turn signal to indicate that you want to turn or change lanes.
9. When a light turns green, make sure the intersection has cleared before you go.
10. Obey curfews and leave yourself plenty of time to reach your destination.
11. Don't blast the radio. You might miss a siren or a horn that could warn you of possible trouble.
12. Don't drink and drive, and don't ride with anyone who has been drinking.
13. Don't take drugs and drive, and don't ride with anyone who has been using drugs.
14. Don't drive with small children or even small teenage friends in the front seat of a car that has a passenger-side air bag.
15. Don't talk on your cell phone while driving. If necessary, pull off the road to a safe spot and park.
16. Always pull over (to the right side of the road) if a police officer stops you.
17. Don't allow friends or other uninsured drivers to drive your car.
18. If you feel tired or sleepy, pull off the road and call your parents or another adult to help you.
19. Don't drive like you own the road - drive like you own the car.

For more information, please visit http://www.choosesafetyforlife.com.

Graduated License
All applicants for a new Maryland driver’s license must go through a three-step process:

• Learner's permit
• Provisional license
• Full license

Applicants for learner’s permits must be at least 15 years and 9 months old and must pass a vision test and basic driver knowledge test.

During the learner’s permit period, drivers must complete at least 60 hours of driving practice with someone at least age 21 who has held a driver’s license for at least three years.  Ten of those practice hours must occur while dark outside.  The applicant must also complete 30 hours of classroom education from a certified driving school before they will qualify to proceed to the driving test.

Following this, the holder of the learner's permit may take the practical driving test, and if successful will receive a provisional license.  To receive a full license, a driver must hold a provisional license for at least 18 months with no moving violations during that time.  If he or she is cited for a moving violation, the 18-month period is restarted.

Drivers under age 18 with a provisional license are only authorized to drive without adult supervision from 5 a.m. to midnight.  People under age 18 are prohibited from using a wireless communication device (i.e. cell phone) while operating a motor vehicle, except to contact 911.  Violations may result in a suspension of driving privileges.

The earliest a person can obtain a full license is age 17 and 9 months.  For the first 5 months after the provisional license is issued, the new drivers under age 18 are not allowed to transport minors with the exception of family members, unless accompanied by an adult.

For more information about the licensing process and additional learning materials to help you succeed, please consult the Maryland Vehicle Administration’s website at mvamaryland.com.

Facts and Statistics

While learning to drive and getting your driver's license can be exciting, young drivers under 20 are at the highest risk for a collision.  This age group also has the highest proportion of crashes related to distracted driving.  The facts below provide insight into how serious and deadly driving can be.

• At any given moment during the daylight hours, over 800,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. (NHTSA)
• In 2008, nearly 6,000 people died in crashes that involved distracted driving, and more than half a million were injured.  (NHTSA)
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.  (IIHS)
• Young people between the ages of 16 and 29, especially males, are at highest risk for having a drowsy driving related collision.  (NHTSA)
• Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involve some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event.  (NHTSA)
• 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year.  This results in an estimated 1,500 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses.  (NHTSA)
• In the United States, the crash rate per mile driven for 16-19 year olds is four times the risk for older drivers.  (IIHS)
• In 2008, a total of 34 persons lost their lives and 11,578 persons were injured in 24,769 distracted driver-involved crashes in Maryland.  (Choose Safety For Life)
• Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population.  However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.  (CDC)
• Among 15 to 20-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2006, 31 percent of the drivers who were killed had been drinking and 77 percent of these drivers were unrestrained.  (NHTSA)
• The younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.  (NHTSA)
• Sixty-three percent of teenage passenger deaths in 2008 occurred in vehicles driven by another teenager.  (IIHS)
• In 2008, 20 percent of teenagers' fatalities occurred between 9pm and midnight, and 24 percent occurred between midnight and 6 am.  Fifty-five percent of teenagers' fatalities occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.  (IIHS)
• A 2008 telephone survey by Nationwide Insurance found that 18 percent of people who own cell phones send or read text messages when driving, and among drivers 30 and younger the proportion jumps to nearly 40 percent.  (IIHS/Nationwide Insurance)

Keep yourself and your friends safe.  Minimize your distractions, and drive with caution.