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Continued Decrease in Young Drivers

03 August 2012 Taylor & Francis

Thirty years ago, eight in 10 Americans ages 17‐19 had a driver's license.
Today, it's six in 10, says a recent update published in Traffic Injury Prevention by Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

In a follow‐up to their previous studies examining the percentage of young persons with driver's licenses, Sivak and Schoettle say the trend has accelerated. In 1983, about 87 percent of 19‐year‐olds, 80 percent of 18‐year‐olds and 69 percent of 17‐year‐olds owned a driver's license. New data shows that in 2010, those numbers have plummeted even more: about 70 percent of 19-year-olds, 61 percent of 18-year-olds and 46 percent of 17-year-olds had a driver's license.

"Overall, the observed decrease in driver licensing is consistent with the continued increase in Internet usage," Sivak said. "In our previous research, we found that the percentage of young drivers was inversely related to the proportion of Internet users. Virtual contact, through electronic means, reduces the need for actual contact."

For more details, read the entire press release written by Bernie DeGroat, Associate Director of the University of Michigan News Service.

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/press/GCPI-pr.pdf