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Even With Increasing Driving Age, More Can Be Done To Save Teens

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2008

Nearly all parents fear the day when their 16-year-old son or daughter drives solo for the first time. In this car-loving society of ours, the driver's license is the ultimate rite of passage.

But while teen drivers can have excellent reflexes, they often have terrible judgment. More than 5,000 U.S. teens die each year in car crashes, and their rate of crashes is 10 times higher than for drivers ages 30 to 59, according to the National Highway Safety Administration.

So there is some logic behind a new proposal to raise the driving age to 17. New Jersey set 17 as the minimum age for a license, and its death rate was significantly lower than nearby Connecticut, where the driving age is 16.

But we also live in a world where a car and a driver's license is almost a necessity. Teenagers need transportation to jobs and after-school activities.

Yet as a state, we fail to properly prepare new drivers for the responsibility of being behind the wheel.

So with no easy answer in sight, the nation's transportation experts have more work to do. The study released last week by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety only looked at New Jersey and Connecticut, when a more comprehensive, nationwide comparison is needed.

But states don't need to await the completion of a study to take steps that will save lives.

Florida does not require young drivers to take formal drivers' education before getting their licenses. Legislation sponsored by two Tampa-area lawmakers that would have taken that common-sense first step died for lack of support this spring.

Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, who sponsored one of the doomed bills, is right when he says it's driving experience, not age, which is the greatest factor in driving safety.

Florida already knows from its years of granting graduated driving privileges that putting limits on teen drivers helps saves lives.

A dozen years ago, the state limited the hours when younger drivers could be behind the wheel and how many passengers could be in the car with them. Within six years those measures lowered the number of fatal crashes by nine percent.

Florida is also strict with 16- and 17-year-olds who receive traffic tickets. If you have a learner's permit, a traffic conviction will block you from getting a license for a year or until you turn 18, whichever comes first. If you're not in school or get stopped with a blood-alcohol level of .02 percent (about one drink for some people), driving privileges are suspended.

But Florida could do more.

It could more vigorously enforce the law that makes it a primary offense against drivers under 18 who fail to wear a seat belt. Statistics show that teen drivers are the least likely to wear their seatbelts, and two-thirds of teens killed in car crashes weren't wearing their seat belts.

Florida also should consider a ban on teenagers using cell phones and texting while driving, as states like Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey and Oregon do.

Many families are already one step ahead of government on the driving issue.

Insurance rates have made parents think twice about letting their 16-year-olds get driver's licenses, especially given the area's hazardous driving conditions. It's not uncommon for parents to delay teens from getting their licenses and to demand cell phones are turned off while their child is driving.

Those with the financial resources can put GPS systems on their teen's car to track speed and location.

To save lives, Florida doesn't need to wait for a national consensus. It can start saving lives next legislative session.

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