| Raise Driving Age |  |  |  |
| Written by Jeffrey Scott | |
| Thursday, 18 June 2009 11:55 | |
States urged to raise age for driving, but ‘it’s a tough sell’The Atlanta Journal-Constitution AJC.com The numbers, the prevailing body of research, perhaps even the common sense of it have been known for years: Teenagers are more likely to have accidents than any other drivers on the road. The younger drivers are, the more dangerous they are behind the wheel. On average in this country, about 4,600 teenagers a year die of injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes. Yet, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety this week recommended states across the country, including Georgia, raise the driving age from 16 to 17 or 18, the group admitted that probably wouldn’t happen. “It’s a tough sell,” said institute spokesman Russ Rader in a telephone interview from Scottsdale, Ariz., where the group presented its findings to the Governors Highway Safety Association. “Over the years Americans have come to treat 16 as the driving age as somehow carved in stone.” That sentiment was echoed by Georgia officials, who have been among the most aggressive in the nation in regulating teens on the road. “There is a of lot evidence that the longer you put off the driving age the better it is because people’s cognitive abilities and judgment improve,” said Georgia state Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome). “But when we have floated this idea to voters, it’s very clear they don’t want the age raised.” Smith sponsored Joshua’s Law. The measure, which took effect in 2007, says 16-year-olds must either take driver’s education classes to get a license, or wait until they are 17. Joshua’s Law is named for Joshua Brown, a Cartersville 17-year-old who was killed in July 2003 when he lost control in the rain and slammed into a tree. His father, Alan Brown, has since made it his mission to see that his son did not die in vain. “My son hydroplaned at 45 miles an hour in the rain; he didn’t do anything wrong,” said Brown, who said he considered suicide after his son’s death. “How do you teach a kid that? He was young. But you do everything you can. You make kids take driver’s education.” When Joshua’s Law was passed, only 38 schools in Georgia offered driver’s education. Today, driver’s education is taught in 161 Georgia schools. Brown said he has met with 93 school boards selling them on the idea and “I’ve been successful 91 times.” Arthur Goodwin, a senior research associate at the Highways Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina, has studied driving laws across the country. He believes states will raise the driving age to 17 —- eventually. “There’s no question that raising the age saves lives,” he said. “But right now, 16 is the balancing act people have decided on between safety and mobility. I think over time that attitude will change.” Atlantan LeAndrea Carter, 34, knows all about that balancing act. She said she would prefer the driving age be raised to 17 because she believes her 16-year-old daughter, Silkki, who didn’t take driver’s education classes, would be more mature and prepared to drive. Instead, she has been teaching her daughter how to drive the old-fashioned way: white-knuckle rides around the neighborhood as Silkki, who turns 17 in February, drives. Mom rides, guides and gives advice. “I’ve got to say, it’s nerve-racking,” Carter said. “When she is behind the wheel and a car is coming towards her, she stays in her lane but she just slows down. I tell her you can’t do that, you’re in your lane —- you should remain calm.” In Warner Robins, Eric Collins, 16, just got his license after taking driver’s educations classes, most of them online. He says he feels comfortable behind the wheel and sees no need to raise the legal driving age. “I mean, it’s been 16 for a long time,” Collins said. “I don’t know why they would change it.” And they probably won’t, not in Georgia, not anytime soon. Bob Dallas, director of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said this week his office is still trying to digest the latest argument and statistics from the IIHS, a research group funded by the auto insurance industry. “In our mind, it’s very, very early in the data,” Dallas said, adding that he is not aware of any effort by officials or state politicians to push for raising the driving age in Georgia. The last concerted effort to raise the driving age in Georgia was in 2001 when Roy Barnes was governor. The backlash from that was particularly pronounced in rural Georgia, where Barnes met resistance from farmers who said the age needed to stay 16 —- or lower —- so teens could continue to drive vehicles to help with chores and bring in the crops. In New Jersey, there’s evidence that waiting until you’re 17 to drive is a good thing. According to the IIHS study, the rate of crash-related deaths among 16- and 17-year-olds was 18 per 100,000 in New Jersey, compared with 26 per 100,000 in Connecticut, where the age is 16. Those rates, researchers said, have dropped even further since both states instituted graduated driver’s license programs, which Georgia adopted in 1997.
Associated Press |
No comments:
Post a Comment