|
|
 | | From: | Omega | | Subject: | Wash. Post - Teenage driving more deadly than war | | Date: | Mon, 24 Jan 2005 04:10:38 GMT |
|
|
 |
washingtonpost.com
Tougher on Teen Driving
Sunday, January 23, 2005; Page B06
A16- OR 17-YEAR-OLD driver doubles his likelihood of having an accident by
taking two passengers in his car. He quadruples it by taking three or more
passengers, particularly teen passengers. Those statistics, from the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an independent group, are part of a
voluminous body of evidence that underscores this arresting fact: For
traffic accidents, the No. 1 killer of American teenagers, a key variable --
perhaps the key variable -- is the presence and number of teen passengers
riding with teen drivers. Unfortunately, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich
Jr.'s otherwise excellent legislative package on teen driving fails to
address that critical issue.
Mr. Ehrlich's proposals make good sense, as far as they go. The toughest one
would penalize motorists under the age of 21 who drive drunk or drugged by
suspending their licenses for three to five years. The governor would also
extend the learner's-permit period, when a young driver may take the wheel
only when accompanied by an experienced adult passenger, from the current
four months to six months. Also under Mr. Ehrlich's plan, new drivers with
18-month provisional licenses would lose their driving privileges for 90
days for not wearing seat belts or driving during a curfew of midnight to 5
a.m.
Those ideas mark a commendable shift in thinking by Mr. Ehrlich, who as a
congressman favored scrapping penalties for states that refused to follow
the federal government's lead on safety belts, motorcycle helmets, the
national speed limit and the national minimum drinking age. The Republican
governor now may be reluctant to legislate who may ride in a car and who may
not. But he might also consider the joy-riding tendencies of the youngest
drivers and their rowdy peer passengers, and the tragedies of ruined lives
and broken hearts that so often result from that behavior.
Two state delegates from Montgomery County, William A. Bronrott and Adrienne
A. Mandel, have pushed legislation for the past few years that addresses the
problem head-on. The Democrats' bill would prohibit drivers under the age of
18 from carrying unrelated teen passengers for the first six months after
they received provisional licenses (which in Maryland can be had at age 16,
after the learner's-permit phase). It is hardly a draconian measure, but the
governor has given it the cold shoulder for the past two years. Some
Marylanders may regard it as an imposition that their newly licensed teenage
children are barred for half a year from taking teen passengers in their
vehicles. But we agree with Mrs. Mandel. "The opposition comes from people
who fear the inconvenience of being parents for an additional six months of
their lives," she said. "They're talking about inconvenience, and I'm
talking about saving lives."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29571-2005Jan22.html
|
|
| | From: | Cereus122 | | Subject: | Re: Wash. Post - Teenage driving more deadly than war | | Date: | 24 Jan 2005 09:07:30 GMT |
|
|
| >Subject: Wash. Post - Teenage driving more deadly than war
>From: "Omega" 2121(d)@insightbb.com
>Date: 1/23/2005 8:10 PM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <2z_Id.19144$P04.8698@attbi_s03>
>
The difference being that most wars are preventable.
|
|
|
