Why target young people? On the basis of miles driven, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as are all drivers. Why do young drivers have such poor driving performance?
Three factors work together to make the teen years so deadly for young drivers:

1. Inexperience: All young drivers start out with very little knowledge or understanding of the complexities of driving a motor vehicle. Like an other skill, learning to drive well takes technical ability, good judgment and experience. These skills are needed to properly make the many continuous decisions, small and large, that add up to safe driving. The GDL System provides for
a second phase in the training of the young driver, one in which they can practice their skills unsupervised but not in high risk situations.
2. Risk-taking behavior and immaturity: Adolescent impulsiveness is a natural behavior, but it results in poor driving judgment and participation in high-risk behaviors such as speeding, inattention, drinking and driving, and not using a seat belt. Peer pressure also often encourages risk taking.
3. Greater risk exposure: Teens often drive at night with other teens in the vehicle - factors that increase crash risk.

Isn't it unfair to restrict all teenage drivers? Why not just penalize the problem drivers? We know some characteristics of young drivers who are more likely than others to be in crashes, but it's impossible to identify them adequately on an individual basis and intervene before they get into crashes. Most fatally injured young drivers don't have prior traffic violations or crashes on their records. The logic of addressing all young people is that they all are beginners when they start driving. Every novice needs time to develop driving skills in low-risk settings.

Enhancing motivation for safe driving. GDL not only helps the novice driver better cope with risks, but also enhances the motivation to drive safely and "play by the rules." Conditions are lifted as rewards for good driving and sanctions are imposed for violations. For young drivers, the worst sanctions may be the delay that keeps them in an earlier stage longer, while their peers advance to the next level. By making relief from restrictions contingent upon a good driving record, graduated driver licensing provides incentive to drive safely.