Developing safe driving skills is more difficult now than it was years ago for the parents of today’s teen drivers. From the increase in traffic on our roads to the number of electronic distractions (ie. Cell phones, GPS) in our cars today, focusing on learning good driving habits is challenging.

It is a well-known fact that the chances of a driver having a crash are greatest in their first few years of driving. The National Safety council has been promoting Graduated Driver Licensing for a number of years in hopes of reducing teen drivers’ risk of crashing. The success rate has been such that many states now use a graduated licensing system.

What is Graduated Driver Licensing? There are three stages to graduated licensing, which is meant to progressively expose young drivers to challenges such as driving with other passengers, or driving at night. The details of each stage may vary from state to state, some ban the use of cell phones for example. To give you the basic idea, here is an example of what might be typical requirements:

First stage – The new driver must meet minimum age requirements according to their state (usually between 15 and 16 years old). After passing a written test, the driver would obtain a Learner’s Permit which would allow them to only drive with a fully licensed driver (some states add that the licensed driver must be over 21).

There are usually restrictions on driving, like only being allowed to drive during daylight for the first three months, and after that only until 10 p.m. – and always with the licensed driver in the passenger seat.

The driver must be ticket and accident free for 6 months to a year (varies according to state) before being allowed to proceed to the next phase.

Second Stage – After successfully passing the road test, the new driver would be issued an intermediate license – some places refer to it as a provisional license. This means that the driver is now free to drive by themselves, with certain restrictions. Those restrictions might be the hours of the day you are authorized to drive, for instance 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., unless a fully licensed driver accompanies you. There may be exceptions to the rule for working hours, but these details will vary according to where you live.

Again, the driver must be ticket and accident free for 12 months before being allowed to proceed to the next phase.

Third Stage – The driver would be granted a full license as long as they have met the previous requirements and are the minimum age of 18 (or age mandated by state).

This system has been proven to reduce the amount of accidents involving teen drivers by up to 40%. Florida was the first state to implement such a program back in the mid 90s and since then the majority of U.S. states have adopted a three-stage program.