Graduated driver licensing (GDL) has been proposed as one of several measures to reduce the involvement of teenage drivers in crashes. The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the graduated licensing system in New Jersey.

The specific objectives are to

• identify the characteristics of crashes and violations involving teenage drivers in New Jersey
• identify trends in the crash and violation rates in the last few years
• determine the changes in the number of crashes, crash rate, characteristics of crashes, violations, and arrests of teenage drivers, from before the implementation of GDL (in year 2000) and during the implementation of GDL (in year 2001)
• assess if GDL has been effective in altering the behavior of teenage drivers leading to fewer violations and crashes

The accident and violation rates of teenage drivers and drivers in other age groups would be determined before (i.e., in year 2000) and during the implementation of GDL (i.e., in year 2001). Appropriate statistical methods would be identified to make this comparison and deduce the effectiveness of GDL.