By The Journal Times Editorial Board | Posted: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:00 am
It's always good to question the need for adding one more law to the thousands of pages of laws that we already have, but state Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, has one in the works which is a good idea.
Lehman and some Capitol colleagues are working on a bill which would prohibit the use of cell phones by teens who have a temporary license or an instructional permit. There's an exception for emergencies, which also makes sense. We would take that a little further and suggest, if it isn't in the bill already, that police officers be empowered to pull over teens whom they see talking on cell phones or sending text messages while driving.
Teens may whine that they're being singled out, and it's true, and there's a good reason. They're not young people with adult skills and abilities, nor are they experienced drivers. They're still learning the basics of what in reality is a very complex skill, and no other group of drivers is as dangerous on the road.
Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that almost 60 of every 100,000 licensed drivers ages 15 to 20 are involved in fatal traffic crashes. That rate declines steadily as people age, bottoms out at 19 for every 100,000 drivers ages 65 to 69, and then climbs to 22 for those 70 and older.
Moreover, the NHTSA reports that teens do not have the same ability to scan traffic as adults, are not as able to spot higher-risk situations, take unnecessary risks and are more easily distracted than older drivers. There's the often-repeated bit of research which found that the human brain's decision-making abilities are not fully developed until about age 25. And on top of it all, younger drivers use hand-held cell phones at a higher rate than older drivers.
We're not even going to complain (much) about the pre-driving teens whom we've seen blabbing on cell phones while riding bicycles. These biking-talking younger teens are just as oblivious to their surroundings as older driving-talking teens, but fortunately are not in charge of one or two tons of moving metal.
We already have graduated driver's licenses in Wisconsin that reduce distractions by requiring a period of time when no other teens are allowed in the car with an inexperienced driver. In other places, such licenses have cut crashes involving young drivers by one-quarter to about one-third. It makes sense to restrict cell phone use which is just another distraction-a sort of virtual teen in the car with an inexperienced driver.