Friday, January 01, 1999
New rules for new teen-age drivers
BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Getting a driver's license is a little tougher for Ohio 16- and 17-year-olds today.
A new Ohio law requires 50 hours of behind-the-wheel driving with a parent or guardian, including 10 hours of night driving.
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GETTING A LICENSE
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Here are the basic steps teens need to follow to get a license under Ohio's graduated licensing law:
• At 151/2: A teen can get a temporary permit. This allows teens to practice driving as long as a licensed parent or guardian sits in the front seat.
• At 16: Teens can test for a probationary license as long as they have had a temporary permit for at least six months and can prove:
• They've had 50 hours behind the wheel training with a parent.
• They have had a driver's education class that provided 24 hours of classroom instruction and eight hours behind the wheel with an instructor.
The probationary license, issued to anyone under 18, is more restrictive than a full license. There's a 90-day suspension for two moving violations and a one-year suspension for three moving violations. Also, 16-year-olds can't drive from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. unless with a parent or guardian, driving to or from work or a school activity or in an emergency situation.
• At 17: The 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. curfew is lifted.
• At 18: The probationary license can become a full license.
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It also calls for an extra eight hours in the classroom during high school or commercial driver-education courses, bringing the total to 24 hours of classroom training and eight behind the wheel with an instructor.
And once 16-year-old drivers get their probationary licenses, the new law says they aren't allowed alone on the road between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. unless for an emergency or going to or from work or school function.
The point: To save lives and decrease injuries from car crashes.
“The more experience behind the wheel, the more the chance of a crash can be reduced,” said Mary Bonelli, spokeswoman for the Ohio Insurance Institute.
As a group, teens — especially 16-year-olds — don't have good driving records.
In Ohio in 1997, teens had the highest crash rates among all licensed drivers, according to the Ohio Insurance Institute. Twenty percent of Ohio drivers ages 16 to 20 were involved in crashes that year.
That reflects a national trend.
While driver death rates among drivers 17 and older have been declining nationally over the past two decades, the percentage of fatalities among 16-year-old drivers has been climbing.
Overall driver death rates from 1975 to 1996 declined to 12 deaths per 100,000 licensed drivers from 15 deaths per 100,000 licensed drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Among 16-year-old drivers: 35 per 100,000 licensed drivers were killed in 1996, up from 19 licensed drivers per 100,000 in 1975.
Traditionally, younger drivers are risk takers; they wear safety belts less frequently than other age groups; they like to drive fast, and they're more inexperienced, said Leo Skinner, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
“The main goal is to give them more experience and make them better drivers,” he said.
The 50 hours of behind-the-wheel driving is in addition to holding a temporary permit for six months and completing the required driver-education course and behind-the-wheel training.
Parents or guardians will have to vouch their teen has spent the extra hours driving, through a notarized statement. And teens will need to show that document when they apply for their probationary license, the driver's license issued to anyone under 18.
Working the extra driving time into parents' and teens' busy schedules may be a challenge, but members of both generations agree it's a good idea.
Ashley Rakes, 15, of Mason said she's watched her friend, who recently got her license, become more comfortable behind the wheel with time.
“It's better we get all that experience before we get our licenses,” she said.
Her mother, Maria Rakes, has been through the driver's-license process with two older children and agrees: “The more they get behind the wheel, the better driver they might be.”
The new laws are the second phase of creating a graduated driver-license program in Ohio.
In July, the state made temporary permits available to 151/2-year-olds and made it illegal for those under 17 with a temporary permit to drive between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. unless a licensed parent or guardian is in the front seat.
For parents and teens trying to sort through the changes, “The Driving Challenge: Teaching Your Teen to Drive” brochure is available from the Ohio Insurance Institute Web site at www.ohioinsurance.org or by calling the Ohio Department of Public Safety at 1-800-462-2269 and the Ohio Insurance Institute at 614-228-1593.
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