Experience pays off
Not everyone was happy when Pennsylvania changed the rules for beginning drivers. Teens grumbled that a 6-month waiting period between gaining a permit and passing the exam seriously cut into their long-awaited rite of passage. Three years have since passed and is enough time to gauge whether the intended outcome of the law – reduction in serious and fatal accidents involving teen drivers – worked. According to the National Safety Council it has.
Pennsylvania’s stricter licensing laws went into effect in December 1999. In the first year the crash rate for 16-year-old drivers dropped 27 percent. Fatalities dropped 58 percent. We would expect that statistics for 2001 and 2002 will tell the same story once the safety council reviews the data. This is encouraging news, especially when viewed in light of numbers from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that indicate more than half the drivers killed in accidents in Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties are between 16 and 25 years of age. Not surprisingly, that age group also contributes to half the speeding-related accidents.
The adoption of a graduated driver’s license in Pennsylvania proves the point that there is no substitute for experience when it comes to driving. In the past little was required of teen drivers. Answer a few easy questions, pass an eye exam, wait about a month between getting a permit and take a quick road exam and presto, a 16-year-old is now deemed ready to navigate a 2,000-pound machine at 55 mph in all kinds of weather on all kinds of roadways. Requiring six months behind the wheel and certification of at least 50 hours building skills not only makes sense, it works.
As with any driver safety program, Pennsylvania can expect steep declines in teen accidents for several years before tapering off. The question then will be asked is what else can be done to curb teen accidents. Safety experts already have the answer – limiting distractions.
Experts suggest that the fewer passengers in a car the less likely that a teen driver will become distracted. A movement is on to enact laws that restrict non-family member passengers. Worried parents already can enact and enforce these rules.
Sure kids are likely to grumble as this seriously cuts into driving around, socializing (another long-awaited rite of passage). But what’s a little squawking if it keeps them safe?