Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 3, 1993 TAG: 9303030284
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
TEEN DRIVING CURFEW URGED
The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday recommended a nationwide crackdown on teen-age driving, including a nighttime curfew on driving by younger teen-agers and license suspension on the spot for adolescents caught driving with any amount of alcohol in their blood.The board said teen-age drivers account for a far higher proportion of highway fatalities than adults in relationship to their numbers.
"Younger drivers are overrepresented in traffic crashes and deaths," the board said, citing federal statistics showing 15- to 20-year-olds account for 14.9 percent of all driver fatalities, although they comprise only 7.1 percent of licensed drivers. Although teen-agers do only 20 percent of their driving at night, half their fatalities are at night. About 30 percent of teen-age drivers killed in 1991 tested positive for alcohol.
"We think the problem is unequivocally there," said board Chairman Carl W. Vogt. "We're convinced these kinds of measures will definitely save lives."
The board does not have the power to impose rules on teen-age driving, but its reports often spark action by other government agencies.
The board recommended that all states:
Enact curfews on nighttime driving - especially between midnight and 5 a.m. - by "young novice drivers," generally 16- and 17-year-olds in their first year of driving.
Give "provisional" licenses to young novice drivers requiring them to "remain free of violations, accidents and alcohol for a specified period" before allowing them a regular license.
Establish a minimum blood-alcohol content of 0.0 percent for teen-agers, and immediately suspend or revoke the license of any teen who shows even a trace of alcohol. The adult limit ranges from 0.08 to 0.1 in most states.
Take vendor or commercial license action against anyone who sells alcohol to a teen-ager.
Eliminate loopholes by making certain that state laws ban any purchase, attempt to purchase, possession or consumption by a teen-ager or sale of any alcoholic beverage to a teen-ager.