Driver’s license rules need help to reduce fatalities

THE ISSUE A research group has called for raising the minimum age to obtain a driver's license.

A respected research group funded by the auto insurance industry is urging states to raise the minimum age for obtaining a driver's license to 17 or even 18, but the Hawaii law enacted three years ago is sufficient. The need is for parents, schools and police to make it work.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety told the annual conference of the Governors Highway Safety Association that "raising the driving age saves lives." It points out that New Jersey, which licenses drivers at age 17, has a traffic fatality rate of 18 per 100,000 for 16- and 17-year-olds, while neighboring Connecticut, where 16-year-olds are licensed to drive, has a rate of 26 per 100,000.

The group's report says New Jersey is the only state to hold off licensure until age 17. Most states deny full driver's licenses to those under that age, while issuing provisional licenses to younger applicants under graduated licensing systems. Anne McCatt, the institute's senior vice president for research, acknowledged that "graduated licensing has been successful ever since states began to adopt those programs."

Hawaii's program, enacted in 2005, forbids drivers ages 15through 16 from driving without a licensed driver, age 21 or older, seated in the front passenger seat. Anyone under 17 cannot be issued a full driver's license. The law also requires teenagers to obtain driver's education before obtaining provisional licenses.

The law itself provides no assurance of compliance. A year after the legislation became law, a 15-year-old driver of a stolen car and a 16-year-old passenger were killed and three other teenage passengers were injured along the North Shore when the car struck two utility poles and a hydrant.

Nor is the New Jersey law foolproof. A month before the North Shore crash, a 17-year-old with a provisional license was speeding in New Jersey when his car slid into an oncoming car, killing a 15-year-old passenger. Two other high-school classmates were the only other passengers.

A Hawaii law that went into effect last year requires suspension of the driver's license of any person under 21 who is caught illegally purchasing, possessing or consuming alcohol. If the person has no license, a judge can suspend the person's ability to acquire one.

Nationally, teenagers comprise 6 percent of all licensed drivers but are involved in 15 percent of fatal accidents. The rate of traffic accidents per miles driven for 16-year-olds is nearly 10 times the rate for drivers ages 30 to 59, according to the National Highway Safety Administration.