Unlicensed drivers and those whose licenses have been suspended or revoked are nearly three times more likely to cause a fatal crash than licensed drivers, a DMV study found.

The study used crash data over a 23-year period and reviewed two-vehicle fatal crashes in which only one driver was at fault. It found:

–Compared to licensed drivers, those with suspended/revoked licenses or unlicensed were 2.6 and 2.73 times more likely to cause a fatal crash.

–The largest percentage of suspended/revoked and unlicensed drivers involved in the two-vehicle crashes reviewed were age 20 to 29.

–For drivers age 19 or younger in such crashes, the percentage unlicensed was almost four times higher than the percentage whose licenses were suspended or revoked.

The report, which looked at data from 1987 to 2009, said the at-fault rate for unlicensed drivers hasn’t changed since a 1994 law that required proof of legal residency to get a driver’s license.

That “suggests that unlicensed drivers who are ineligible to become licensed under this law are just as hazardous as drivers who are unlicensed for other reasons,” the study said.

The report said its findings “strongly justify the use of countermeasures, including vehicle impoundment, to control S/R and unlicensed drivers and to reduce crashes caused by these drivers.”

The DMV noted that a study done in 2002 found that at any given time during that year 1.9 million drivers had suspended or revoked licenses.

To read the report, dated last September, CLICK HERE.

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