Studies of statistics on driving accidents and fatalities are pointing the finger at teen drivers, causing many to question the effectiveness of restrictive driving laws and whether or not 16-year-olds are old enough to handle the responsibility of driving a motor vehicle.

“Surveys show that the major (accident prone) groups are your teens and on the opposite side elderly,” said Dana Harris, North Carolina Master Trooper. “The elderly because they have a slow reaction time and may have poor vision and teens because they are inexperienced. We have a lot of wrecks especially with young kids (at the wheel).”

When USA TODAY examined all the deadly crashes involving 16- to 19-year-old drivers in 2003 common factors emerged. A 16-year-old driving with other teens, after dark, in dangerous regions or in unsuitable vehicles are all factors that contribute to teen car accidents.

Because of these statistics and the assumptions made based on statistics, nearly all states have some form of “graduated licensing” programs that limit driving privileges for new teenage drivers in an effort to keep young drivers safe. North Carolina has a three-level, graduated licensing process that places restrictions on the number of passengers and hours of driving.

“(The restrictive laws) are for safety reasons,” Harris said. “Since (North Carolina) has had the graduated license system, I have seen a decrease in teen accidents.”

With a limited provisional license, drivers are restricted to one passenger, unless the passengers are family members.

Harris explains: When there is one passenger, they are more than likely sitting next to the driver in the front passenger seat. If the driver wants to look at something or talk with this person they do not have to move their eyes very far and can still concentrate on the road. With more than one passenger, the driver may be tempted to look in the back seat, which is too far away from the road, causing more accidents.

“I feel (restricting the number of passengers) definitely reduces car accidents,” sophomore Caroline Outten said. “The more people you have the more distraction (there is). If I wasn’t (driving) with anybody (in the car), I probably wouldn’t have wrecked.”

The other focus of the graduated licensing system is time restrictions for driving. Certain times for driving are more dangerous than others. At night, teens are more likely to fall asleep at the wheel, there are more drunk drivers on the road and the dark limits a driver’s vision. The Insurance Institutes for Highway Safety says that teen drivers are three times as likely as drivers 20 and older to be involved in fatal crashes between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. And 16-year-olds die at night twice as often as in the daytime. These statistics are used to justify why restrictions are put on teen’s night driving.

Some teens find they just don’t like night driving.

“I mostly drive during the day,” junior Michael Mauney said. “I don’t like driving at night because it is kind of boring and I get tired of it.”

Insurance Institutes for Highway Safety, along with other experts, note that despite graduated licensing programs, thousands of teens are still being killed on the roads. They say this is due to the rules being poorly enforced and often full of loopholes. Students tend to agree.

“I don’t know many people who follow (the restrictive laws),” junior Krystal Goris said. “I have never seen anybody get caught for breaking them either.” There are also other factors, not addressed in the graduated licensing system, that contribute to teen accidents.

“(Dangerous teen driving habits) include changing music on the radio while driving, talking and joking and not concentrating on what’s outside of the vehicle, eating, drinking or smoking a cigarette while driving,” Harris said. “You can do (these things) as long as you concentrate more on the road. Driving anywhere requires a lot of attention.”

Several states recently have begun efforts to prohibit youth under the age of 18 from using a cell phone while driving. Colorado has already passed a law, while Virginia tried and failed. Both New Hampshire and Tennessee are currently considering such a law.

Many think such a law would help lower teen accident rates.

“(Cell phones) are a distraction (while driving),” junior Shane O’Neill said. “I have almost hit a couple mailboxes while on them.”

Others feel that banning cell phones is not the solution because they are not the problem. Senior Stephanie Morgan feels hands-free devices are a more realistic solution.

“(The problem with cell phones) is not actually talking on the phone, it is grabbing the phone and dialing numbers,” Morgan said.

Harris believes that the reason teenage drivers are involved in so many acccidents is due to inexperience.

“Experience comes when (young drivers) make a mistake, they learn from it and try not to do it again,” Harris said.

Outten agrees. After her accident while driving home from Wilson, N.C., she has been more cautious and aware of her driving.

“I won’t touch the radio now,” Outten said. “I won’t do anything except keep two hands on the wheel and keep my eyes on the road.”

Inexperience is attributed with the majority of teen accidents. In fact, driver error is involved in 77 percent of crashes involving 16-year-old drivers, but in less than 60 percent of crashes with drivers 20 and older.

“(Sixteen-year-olds) are the youngest (drivers), so they are all inexperienced at that age,” Allan Williams, the former chief scientist of Insurance Institutes for Highway Safety, told Jayne O’Konnell of USA TODAY. “They’re pushing the limits, trying out new things… and they don’t really have the controls over risk-taking in terms of judgment and decision-making.”

A recent study by the National Institutes of Health revealed that the part of the brain that weighs risks and controls impulsive behavior isn’t fully developed until about age 25. As a result of this new medical research, many have begun to question whether or not a 16-year-old should be licensed to drive.

“I don’t think they should (increase the licensing age),” junior Chris Hatcher said. “No matter what, when you first start driving, no matter how old you are, 16 or 18, you are going to be inexperienced.”

The state of New Jersey doesn’t allow full licensure until the age of 17. As a result, that state has the lowest teen fatality rate in the United States. Other countries also have higher licensing ages. In Britain, teens can’t drive until they are 17. In Germany, the driving age is 18.

While many legislators and law enforcement officers believe increasing the driving age would help, many say that resistance to such a prospect is too great.

“Some states have made it that you have to be 17 or 18 (to get a drivers license),” Harris said. “That would actually be safer because of the maturity. It would do the job, but it would punish too many people. Besides, in Dare County most of the (teen drivers) behave themselves. Also, some people who are 16 are just as mature as 18-year-olds.”