Iowa sees drop in fatal crashes involving teen drivers

The number of fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers in Iowa has plummeted over the last 10 years, mirroring a national trend suggesting laws requiring young prospective motorists get extensive experience before obtaining a full license are serving their purpose.

Iowa, which requires minors to follow lengthy and strict guidelines to get a license, counted just one fatal crash involving a 16-year-old driver in 2010, down from 20 in 2001. That decline corresponds with national findings that show states with more driving restrictions on minors have fewer fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers than states with weak laws.

But Iowa also has seen a drop in fatal crashes and overall crashes involving 18-year-old drivers, bucking a trend in some states that shows an increase in fatal collisions in that age group. A study being published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that number might be on the rise in states with strict driving regulations for minors because more teenagers are waiting until age 18 to get a license so they can avoid the classes and regulations. The study examined fatal crashes from 1986 to 2007 involving 16- to 19-year-olds.

Like in many states, drivers in Iowa who don't get a license before age 18 don't have to meet the extensive requirements once they reach that age.

But Iowa saw its fatal crashes involving 18-year-old drivers drop from 19 in 2005 to eight last year. The overall number of crashes involving 18-year-old drivers in Iowa dropped from 3,947 in 2001 to 1,900 last year.

Iowa's crash trends might be different from other states with similar restrictions on minors because fewer teenagers in Iowa might be willing to put off getting a license until age 18, said Iowa Department of Transportation spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher. It also may be because Iowa is a rural state.

“It is very different than living in an urban setting,” Gray-Fisher said. “Fewer people are putting off getting a license because they need to drive.”

In Iowa, 14-year-olds wanting to get an instruction permit must comply with a long list of requirements, including driving with a licensed driver and completing a driver education course. At age 16, drivers can get an intermediate license that limits the hours they can drive without supervision and how many passengers they can have in their vehicle.

“And if you get a moving violation, you would be stepped back,” Gray-Fisher said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.