License law curbs number of teen accidents

By Brent Killackey

Sunday, January 30, 2005 2:07 AM CST

RACINE COUNTY - When Natalie Walsh turns 16 in March, she will have long completed her driver's education class and logged more than 30 hours of practice time behind the wheel.

But the sophomore at Walden High School won't be able to get her driver's license until May - six months after first being issued her "temps," or temporary license, that's needed for on-the-road driver's training.

That six-month wait is one of the many components to the Graduated Driver License law, which was put in place four years ago and is being credited with preventing thousands of accidents.

Walsh isn't bothered by the wait.

"I'm excited to get it, but I'd like to wait because I need the practice," Walsh said.

State Department of Transportation officials credit that extra practice time and other components of the Graduated Driver License, or GDL, as factors in fewer crashes among 16- and 17-year-olds.

During 2001-02 - the first three years since GDL was enacted - 16-year-old licensed drivers experienced 20 percent fewer injury crashes and 18 percent fewer fatal crashes compared to three years before GDL, according to the Department of Transportation.

Injury crashes among 17-year-olds were reduced by 10 percent in that same period, roughly more than double the reduction in injury crashes seen by all other age groups.

"The department does think that passage of the GDL law has had an effect on the reduction in the negative outcomes that kids were seeing when they're out driving around," said Mary Elizabeth Kunkel, research analyst for the DOT's Bureau of Transportation Safety.

The law prohibits newly licensed teens from driving between midnight at 5 a.m., requires absolute sobriety and mandates the use of seat belts.

For the first nine months, a newly licensed teen can only have one other teen in the car.

GDL also introduced a tougher system for second and subsequent offenses during a 12-month period, doubling the points lost.

The first year after full implementation, 3,875 licenses were withdrawn from drivers under age 18 for

accumulating excessive points, according to the DOT. The numbers declined as teens realized how quickly points added up - in 2003, only 2,311 licenses were withdrawn.

Jerilyn Bradley, coordinator of Racine Unified's driver's education program, said the graduated license program appears to be working.

"It's a step in the right direction," Bradley said. "When it comes to saving lives, I would go as far as anything to prevent an accident."

Students are required to log practice time in a driver's education program and with parents.

"It gives them an opportunity for not only getting life lessons from me as an instructor or from one of my behind-the-wheel instructors, but also forces them to spend 30 hours with their parents in the car," Bradley said.

Bradley said that gives parents an opportunity to explain what's required and expected - after all, they'll likely be paying insurance and other costs of the

vehicle.

The Wisconsin Medical Society did raise one caution in the latest issue of the "Wisconsin Medical Journal." Seventy percent of teenagers surveyed disapproved of the GDL program, according to a survey conducted by Dr. Gwen McIntosh.

McIntosh said that's important because "overall, negative attitudes, more than lack of knowledge, may weaken compliance" with the law.

Interviews with a handful of students enrolled in Unified's driver's education program indicated a desire for a few changes, but no major discontent with the GDL program.

"It makes good sense," Demarcus Smith, 16, said about the GDL law. But the Case High School sophomore said having to wait six months after getting his temps was too long; three months would be more

reasonable.

"I think they're reasonable," Walsh said. "It lowers the risks of accidents."

Walsh said she liked the restrictions on teens because she wouldn't feel obligated to give rides home to classmates.

"I understand the reasoning behind it," said 16-year-old Max Lohnhardt, a sophomore at Case.

Lohnhardt said the restrictions on teen passengers could make it a hassle to go out with friends.

McIntosh recommends educators emphasize that public safety outweighs any inconvenience, and that "driver inexperience and risky behaviors, intentional or not, are the rule, rather than the exception."

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