More Americans Favor New Teen Driver Requirements

A new survey conducted by Allstate Insurance finds that a majority of Americans, nearly six in 10, favor a national law that establishes minimum requirements for state graduated driver licensing (GDL).

That’s not all the survey finds, although the results may not be all that shocking. The survey of 1,000 American adults conducted in mid-July, which included 848 identified as having a driver’s license and at least driving occasionally, revealed that respondents are highly critical of teenage drivers. In fact, 81 percent of those surveyed rate teen drivers as “average” or “poor” drivers.

Why is this important? What do survey results like this mean? For one thing, the Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act is currently pending in Congress. STANDUP is part of the Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety Improvement Act of 2011, also known as “Mariah’s Law” for the Arkansas teen killed in a crash involving texting.

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