Most teenagers dream of the day they can drive. To a 16-year-old, a driver’s license is a ticket to freedom, the key to a new world of personal mobility. Having a license means they can cruise around after school, take a date to the movies, or cram a bunch of friends in the car and head to the football game.

And many young drivers demonstrate the skills and maturity needed to successfully and safely negotiate the roads in Arkansas. But many others, do not fully comprehend that with a license comes tremendous responsibility–and risk.

In fact, 465 such teens in Arkansas age 15–20 who were cruising after school, on dates, heading to the football game and driving for other reasons were killed in traffic crashes between 2003 and 2007. Another 57,942 were injured in wrecks in the same five-year time period.

“This is a critical problem that needs immediate action,” said Dr. Mary Aitken, medical director of the Injury Prevention Center at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, which develops programs to reduce and prevent injuries, including those resulting from teen auto crashes. “Arkansas teens face higher risk for motor vehicle death and disability than those in most other states.”

The real risk that novice drivers face is clearly evident in the disproportionate number of teens who are killed on Arkansas highways. Teens make up about 7 percent of the driving population in Arkansas but comprise about 13 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes.

In Arkansas and across the country, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, outdistancing deaths from homicide, suicide, other accidental injuries, drug dependency, cancer or heart disease.

Yet the cost of their learning to drive doesn’t have to be so tragic in Arkansas. While the state implemented a graduated driver licensing (GDL) system in 2002, the system has few restrictions on teen drivers. It is one of the most lenient systems in the nation and was classified as “marginal” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

AAA was among numerous health and safety organizations that encouraged the Arkansas Legislature to adopt a GDL system in the first place. Under most graduated systems, learning to drive is spread over an extended period of time with restrictions placed on teens at each stage that relate to passengers, nighttime driving and required training. The goal is to give teens more behind-the-wheel experience in less risky situations so they are gradually introduced to the traffic system.

However, Arkansas teens have no minimum requirement for supervised driving time. Also, there are no restrictions on nighttime driving or the number of passengers they can transport, both proven to increase the likelihood of teen crashes. Arkansas is one of only three states that does not have a comprehensive three-stage GDL system in place.

What follows is a look at the magnitude of the teen driver problem and a review of the Arkansas’s GDL law. By raising awareness of the seriousness of the novice driver safety issue, AAA hopes to help curb the alarming number of teen deaths on Arkansas roads. Behind the wheel doesn’t have to be an unsafe place for teenagers.

Next: Crashes kill, injure thousands of teens yearly >>