Michigan Driver Education Study

Overview

Teens are at high risk for traffic violations and car crashes because of their young age, lack of driving experience, and exposure to high-risk driving conditions. The Checkpoints Program has used increased parental restrictions on teen driving through at least the first 4 months after their children obtain a driver's permit. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the Checkpoints Program. Approximately 400 teens in Michigan will participate in one of two study groups. One group will take standard driver education classes; the other group will take driver education classes that incorporate the Checkpoints Program. Teens and their parents will complete a written survey after completing the classes and a telephone survey after teens obtain a driver's permit. Teens will complete additional telephone surveys 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after obtaining a driver's permit. Researchers will use this information to study how parents manage teen driving practices, teen driving experiences (amount and conditions of), and high-risk teen driving behaviors.

Teens are at high risk for traffic violations and motor vehicle crashes because of their young age, lack of driving experience, and exposure to high-risk driving conditions. Crash risk is greatest during the first two years of driving, and especially elevated during the first months of driving. Increasing parent involvement is becoming an important target of young driver education; however, little attention has been devoted to parental management of teen driving after teen licensure. Increased parental management of teen driving could reduce the risk of serious injury during the first months of driving and establish clear expectations for their teens' safe driving thereafter. In two randomized trials, the Checkpoints Program has been demonstrated to increase parental restrictions on teen driving through at least four months post-licensure. In this proposed research, we will evaluate the efficacy of the Checkpoints Program as applied to driver education. The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which exposure to the Checkpoints Program during driver education classes in Michigan results in increased restrictions on young drivers during the first year of provisional licensure. The design is a randomized trial in which 24-30 commercial driver education classes will be randomly assigned to be either standard driver education or driver education that integrates the Checkpoints Program, Approximately 400 teens enrolled in driver education and one of their parents will be recruited and will complete written surveys at baseline and telephone surveys one month after teens obtained provisional licenses. Teens will complete additional telephone surveys one, three, six, and 12 months after provisional licensure. Study outcomes include parent management practices of teen driving, teen driving experience including the amount and conditions of driving during the first 12 months of licensure, and teen risky driving behaviors.