Chen also found that the driver death rate increased significantly when the passengers themselves were in their teens or 20s. While the death statistics relate specifically to drivers, experts said other studies have shown that accidents involving new teen drivers also often kill or seriously injure passengers and people in other vehicles. Twenty-eight states have driving curfews, most of them beginning at midnight. New York, which imposes a 9 p.m. curfew on drivers under 18, is among the states with the toughest restrictions. Previous studies of young drivers in New Zealand, Canada and Florida found that so-called graduated driver licensing reduced crashes by 7 percent to 32 percent, Foss said.
Graduated systems impose passenger restrictions or curfews on young drivers.