BACKGROUND 

Some states have observed a growing percentage of young people delaying driver licensure until age 18 or older, along with a declining percentage of teens ages 16–17 obtaining driver licenses. Delay may be due, in part, to their desire to avoid the restrictions, requirements, and costs associated with graduated driver licensing (GDL), which generally applies only to new drivers under the age of 18. 

There are some indications that 18- and 19-year-old drivers who are not covered by GDL restrictions have the highest rate of injury and fatal crash involvement among all young drivers within their first year of licensure. The delay in licensure may be a contributing factor. 

To help address this safety concern, policy proposals have been submitted that focus on increasing the age of driver training requirements and/or GDL restrictions to novice drivers age 18 and older. Research is needed to develop a better understanding of (1) the safety implications associated with delaying driver licensure beyond ages covered by state GDL laws and (2) potential strategies to reduce crash rates for 18- and 19-year-old drivers within their first year of licensure who are not covered by GDL restrictions.

OBJECTIVE 

The objective of this research is to develop a guide that identifies potential strategies for consideration by state driver licensing agencies and state highway safety offices (SHSOs) to reduce crash rates for young drivers currently not covered by GDL restrictions. 

RESEARCH PLAN 

The BTSCRP is seeking the insights of proposers on how best to achieve the research objective. Proposers are expected to describe research plans that can realistically be accomplished within the constraints of available funds and subaward time. Proposals must represent the proposers’ current thinking described in sufficient detail to demonstrate their understanding of the issues and the soundness of their approach in meeting the research objective. The work proposed must be divided into tasks and/or phases. Proposers must describe the work proposed in each phase and task in detail. 

At a minimum, the research effort shall: 

1. Investigate (1) whether crash rates for young drivers who delay licensure beyond ages covered by GDL restrictions differ from crash rates for young drivers who obtain driver licenses under GDL and (2) factors that may contribute to any differences. 
2. Produce generalizable results not limited to specific states using data sources and analysis methods that incorporate sufficient variation in geography, socioeconomics, GDL laws, and state driver education policies. 
3. Utilize multiple data sources, including the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, state-level data, and other sources of quantitative or qualitative data. 
4. Consider the impacts of any state-level driver education requirements for drivers age 18 or older. 
5. Develop resources to support implementation of the research results by state driver licensing agencies and SHSOs. 

The research plan should build in appropriate checkpoints with the BTSCRP project panel, including, at a minimum, (1) a kick-off teleconference meeting to be held within 1 month of the subaward’s execution date and (2) one face-to-face interim deliverable review meeting in Washington, DC, and web-enabled teleconferences tied to panel review and/or BTSCRP approval of the interim deliverables. Interim Report No. 1 shall include a data archiving and sharing plan. 

Costs for the face-to-face interim meeting venue and travel costs for BTSCRP panel members to attend the meetings will be paid by the BTSCRP. Costs for research team members to attend interim meeting(s) should be included in the detailed budget. 

The final deliverables shall include but not be limited to:    

1. A guide that provides a high-level summary of the research results and potential strategies for consideration by state driver license agencies and SHSOs to reduce crash rates for young drivers (an annotated outline for the guide shall be submitted with Interim Report No. 1, and a draft guide shall be submitted at least 6 months prior to the contract end date),
2. A conduct of research report documenting the entire research effort and findings, 
3. Outreach materials to support practitioners’ understanding and use of the research findings and implications for state driver licensing agencies and SHSOs, 
4. A PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes summarizing the research findings, 
5. A technical memorandum identifying priorities for additional research, and 
6. A technical memorandum on implementation (see item IV in the Important section). 

Note: Following receipt of the draft final deliverables, the remaining 3 months shall be for BTSCRP review and comment and for research agency preparation of the final deliverables. 

< < < IMPORTANT > > > 

I.   The brochure Information and Instructions for Preparing Proposals for the Transportation Research Board’s Cooperative Research Programs includes extensive guidance on the preparation of proposals for submission to CRP. Revisions to these instructions are highlighted in yellow within that document.

II.  Proposals will be rejected if any of the proposed research team members work for organizations represented on the project panel. The panel roster for this project can be found at https://www.mytrb.org/OnlineDirectory/Committee/Details/7380. Proposers may not contact panel members directly; this roster is provided solely for the purpose of avoiding potential conflicts of interest.

III. The text of the final deliverable is expected to be publication ready when it is submitted. It is strongly recommended that the research team include the expertise of a technical editor as early in the project timeline as possible. See Appendix F of the Procedural Manual for Subawardees Conducting Research in the Transportation Research Board’s Cooperative Research Programs for technical editing standards expected in final deliverables.

IV. The required technical memorandum titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products” should (a) provide recommendations on how to best put the research findings/products into practice; (b) identify possible institutions that might take leadership in applying the research findings/products; (c) identify issues affecting potential implementation of the findings/products and recommend possible actions to address these issues; and (d) recommend methods of identifying and measuring the impacts associated with implementation of the findings/products. Implementation of these recommendations is not part of the research project and, if warranted, details of these actions will be developed and implemented in future efforts.

V.  The National Academies have an ethical and legal obligation to provide proper attribution whenever material from other sources is included in their reports, online postings, and other publications and products. TRB will review all Cooperative Research Programs draft final deliverables using the software iThenticate for potential plagiarism. If plagiarized text appears in the draft final deliverable, the research team will be required to make revisions and the opportunity to submit future proposals may be affected.