Saving Teenage Lives

Published on 2/8/2008

The leading cause of death for teenagers in this country is car wrecks. From 2001 to 2005 in Connecticut, there were 276 fatal crashes involving young drivers, resulting in the deaths of 142 young people aged 16 to 20, and 134 others.

In 2006, 24 more teenagers were killed in crashes in the state, and 26 others died as a result of wrecks involving young drivers, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. That same year, the DMV issued 36,000 new learner's permits for teens.

It is like leading lambs to slaughter.

And that is why Gov. M. Jodi Rell has rightfully made teenage driving a focus of her 2008 legislative agenda. Like parents and police and lawmakers, the governor is concerned about the epidemic of teen-involved crashes and the deaths and injuries that result.

Last fall, Gov. Rell appointed the Governor's Teen Driving Task Force to examine existing laws pertaining to teenage drivers and consider improvements that may help to save lives.

Her broad-based panel has been meeting at a fever pitch, and has included representatives from the DMV, state health department, transportation officials, police, schools, lawmakers, bereaved parents, the insurance industry, driving instructors, and others in its discussions.

All of them want to help save lives and prevent more injuries.

The governor has already embraced some of the panel's short-term recommendations, including new suspension penalties for teen drivers — both with learner's permits and provisional licenses — who are convicted of violating laws designed to prevent accidents and increase safety.

Currently the law does not provide for such suspensions in cases where teens are convicted of carrying illegal passengers, talking on cell phones, text messaging, speeding and street racing.

It is an important first step in the discussion of enhanced teen driving rules. Across the nation, where restrictions have been placed on young drivers, lives have been saved. And in Connecticut, where “graduated driver's licenses” for teens were introduced in 2004, there has been some improvement with the restrictions, but not enough.

This newspaper strongly supports the effort to improve teen driving laws, but believes it is essential to involve parents, teachers, pediatricians, police and the insurance industry to get it right and make the laws workable and enforceable.

A recent statewide survey on teen driving found that a majority of those polled, including parents, favored stronger laws, tougher penalties for violations and increased educational requirements for drivers under the age of 18.

But voicing support for stronger laws and enforcing them are two different things. Parents must become vigilant. Police need to be included in the discussions to make sure any changes that are made are enforceable. And physicians and teachers must be trained to use every “teachable' moment with teens to hammer away at the responsibility involved in taking the wheel of a vehicle, and the risks involved.

And perhaps insurers could offer incentives to teens and parents who sign a contract pledging to abide by the strengthened laws.

Already, the governor is proposing changes to state law that aim to crack down on underage drinking and driving, including suspension of licenses and attending mandatory substance abuse training programs.

And her task force is considering revisions to the passenger restriction laws for 16- and 17-year-old drivers, making them much more stringent. They would like to roll back the current midnight curfew (except for a few exemptions) to 11 p.m., noting that the deadliest hour for teen drivers is the hour prior to midnight.

The panel is talking about increasing the learner's permit period of required, supervised driver training/practice from the current 20 hours to 50 hours. Data clearly indicates that the more behind-the-wheel training time teens have, the better drivers they make. Like with any new skill, experience is important.

These are serious changes that need a full and frank discussion. They are not intended as a punishment, but as a way to save lives. And parents and teenagers must be part of the process. Get involved. Visit the task force's Web site — ct.gov/teendriving/site — and voice an opinion on what is being proposed. Sometimes government works slowly, but in this case, there is such urgency to the issue. The deaths of nine more teens in the state in the past eight months makes that clear.