Western-Star.com

Cox News Service

Sixteen-year-old Brianna Lawhorn often gives two classmates a ride to dance class after school.

One of her passengers, Alli King, 15, a sophomore at Mason High School, looks forward to getting her temporary driving permit next month. She says it will allow her to go back and forth to practices, and give rides to friends so her family “doesn’t have to drag us everywhere.”

Such carpooling wouldn’t be allowed if Ohio legislators pass restrictions on teen drivers that have been proposed by representatives from Warren and Butler counties.

The new legislation would:

Raise from 15½ to 16 the minimum age for getting a temporary permit to learn to drive;

Require teens to wait until they are 16½ years old before they can get a driver’s license. The minimum age is now 16;

Increase the intermediate license length from 12 to 18 months;

Allow no more than one non-family member to ride until intermediate license;

Restrict nighttime driving to midnight to 6 a.m.

Alli’s mother, Clare King, said the changes wouldn’t affect what they’re already enforcing on their 17-year-old son, Ryan, who’s been driving about a year. She said it ought to be up to parents to decide if their child is responsible enough to get a license with the current restrictions, and that adults should set a better example by avoiding distractions like talking on a cellular phone while driving.

Even as state Rep. Tom Raga, R-Deerfield Twp., and Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Twp., push to gain approval from state lawmakers for their bills — House Bill 343 and Senate Bill 221, respectively — Ohio is not alone in seeking a tougher licensing law aimed at young drivers. At least 30 other states already have more restrictions on teen drivers, according to reports by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the International Institute for Highway Safety.

The legislation that Raga and Cates are sponsoring seeks to strengthen what’s called graduated driver licensing. Their goal, they said, is to protect not only young drivers and their passengers, but pedestrians and drivers of other vehicles.

Young novice drivers account for more than a third of all crash fatalities nationwide, according to the American Automobile Association. Of those fatal crashes, the majority of the people killed in them are people other than the driver. The remaining two-thirds of nationwide crash fatalities take in other vehicle users and pedestrians.

In Ohio, 1,173 people were killed in crashes involving young novice drivers between 1995 and 2004, according to the AAA data.

Of those, 428 were drivers age 15 to 17, 386 were their passengers, 289 were occupants of vehicles operated by drivers at least 18 years of age and 70 were non-motorists.

“We’re at a critical point and something must be done, and we’re doing this in a common sense way that doesn’t penalize anyone,” Raga said. “With the extra six months, they’ll get to experience all four seasons of driving and what those changing driving conditions are.”

He said a provision sponsored by state Rep. Kevin DeWine, R-Fairborn, will be added to his bill requiring anyone 15 or younger to wear a safety belt while riding in the rear seat. Raga called this a safety net for children switching out of a booster seat after reaching a certain body weight and size.