Trends in driver licensing status and driving among high school seniors in the United States, 1996–2010

• During 1996-2010, the proportion of high school seniors in the U.S. who had a driver's license declined from 85% to 73%.
• During the same period, the proportion of seniors who did not drive during an average week increased from 15% in 22%.
• There were meaningful differences in both licensure rates and driving by gender and race.
• Most of the decline in both licensure and driving occurred since 2006.
• The findings suggest that the economic recession has contributed to reduced rates of licensure and driving among teens.

IntroductionUnderstanding the reasons for fluctuations in teenage driver crashes over time in the United States is clouded by the lack of information on licensure rates and driving exposure.MethodsWe examined results from the Monitoring the Future survey to estimate the proportion of high school seniors who possessed a driver’s license and the proportion of seniors who did not drive “during an average week” during the 15-year period of 1996–2010.ResultsDuring 1996–2010, the proportion of high school seniors in United States who reported having a driver’s license declined by 12 percentage points (14%) from 85% to 73%. Two-thirds of the decline (8 percentage points) occurred during 2006–2010. During the same 15-year period, the proportion of high school seniors who did not drive during an average week increased by 7 percentage points (47%) from 15% in 1996 to 22% in 2010, with essentially all of the increase occurring during 2006–2009.DiscussionFindings in this report suggest that the economic recession in recent years has reduced rates of licensure and driving among high school seniors.