There have been several tragic and fatal accidents recently that involved 16- or 17-year old drivers.  Suspicions have been raised in all of these terrible incidents that the young drivers were speeding, or were carrying passengers illegally, or were somehow violating either motor vehicle laws or the conditions of their drivers licenses.  In other words, they didn’t use good judgment – they made fatal decisions.

     Massachusetts lawmakers are fiddling (yes, we used that word “fiddling” on purpose) with a variety of legislative proposals to deal with this problem.  These proposals all call for raising the driving age.  Many of our legislators are opposed to increasing the age for getting a drivers license, so you can be sure that any of the resulting laws will be watered-down compromises that won’t do much to solve the problem.

     In the meantime, young people are dying – themselves, as well as others around them. 

     At South Boston Online, we have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the age for a full drivers license should be raised substantially – to 18 years old.  A learner’s permit could be issued as early as 16 1/2 to allow plenty of time to become a reasonably skilled driver.  However, there should be several restrictions on driving before 18.  In any case, there should be an interval of a year and a half between obtaining a learner’s permit and receiving a full license.

      There is actually some precedent for this.  You must be 18 years old to operate many types of heavy equipment.  Many occupations require that you be 18.  Why?  For safety reasons, pure and simple.   Reflexes, eye/hand coordination, and response times simply aren’t as well developed at 16 as at 18.

     We want young drivers to get learner’s permits and to become competent drivers, but until they get some experience, there should be restrictions on their driving.  They should not carry any passengers, except adult family members, for several months.  The cars they use should be registered for learners, and prominently marked with the word “learner”.  Learners would not be permitted to drive any other vehicle.

     A learning driver should be subject to driving curfews, at least for the first twelve months of the learner’s permit.  Perhaps for the first six months, there should be no driving at all after dark.  After that, driving might be permitted until midnight.

     Any violations during the learning period, no matter how minor, would result in immediate, automatic suspension of the learner’s permit for a year.  Getting the permit back would then require a hearing (in person) at the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

     There could be rewards as well.  Good drivers might have their privileges increased every six months during the learning period, until they are eligible for a full license at 18.  Maybe a perfect record at 18 should result in getting a full license with no further exams.  We’ll let our legislators and registry personnel wrestle with the exact details

     Many arguments have been made about Massachusetts becoming the strictest state in the nation.  Well, so what if we are?  We were among the first to ban smoking in public places, and that was for safety and health reasons.  We should lead the way (for once) in driving safety also.