Teen drivers pose many dangers to themselves and others on the road. The data is disturbing, no matter how you approach it. Motor vehicle accidents are still the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 20. That group is involved in fatal crashes at three times the rate of all other drivers.
The federal government has been trying to address this challenge by offering guidelines on teen driver's licensing standards. Led by Ray LaHood, the Department of Transportation has also waged a proactive awareness campaign against distracted driving.
AAA's Legislative Focus
Private advocacy groups are also involved in these efforts. One key group committed to improving highway safety, AAA, has decided to make teen driver safety a major focus of its lobbying efforts this year. AAA lobbies state legislatures around the country, seeking to enact laws to make motorists safer.
AAA will focus on bans on texting while driving (which is very popular among teens), and increasing teen driver safety through graduated driver licensing. Thirty states now ban texting while driving in one form or another. Wisconsin is now one of those, as of December of 2010. AAA says they expect the other 20 states to consider similar legislation this year.
Of course, it's one thing to have a ban and another thing to enforce it. The temptation to text while driving is hard to resist for many teens. Indeed, half of teens recently surveyed by the Pew Research Center say they send 50 or more text messages per day. And nearly half say that they've been a passenger in a car while a driver has texted behind the wheel. One of every four teens report having done so themselves.
Texting bans, as important as they are, are only one tool for addressing teen driving safety. Another is graduated driver licensing, by which teens must proceed through very deliberate stages, with appropriate training, before getting a full driver's license.
Graduated Licensing for Teen Drivers
Wisconsin has had a graduated license program since 2000, but it could be improved. AAA says that while all 50 states now have some form of graduated licensing system for teen drivers, only five states (Delaware, Indiana, New York, Oklahoma, and West Virginia) have programs that meet AAA's recommendations for nighttime limits, passenger limits, and practice requirements.
AAA recommends a three-stage licensing program for teen drivers. Wisconsin has that, but it allows the first stage to begin as early as 15 and a half, and the second stage to begin at age 16. AAA recommends the licensing process start a little later -the first stage would begin at age 16 and the second at 16 and a half.
