
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 28, 1995                   TAG: 9508280150
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROAD SAFETY

A PRINCE William County resident is lobbying state lawmakers to raise the driving age in Virginia. We'd like to join his crusade.

The man, Elias Saffouri, has a personal stake in the matter. His brother, Nabil, was killed in a head-on collision this spring. The driver of the other car was a teen-ager with a learner's permit.

In fact, many more Virginians than Saffouri have reason to worry about the driving age. Accidents involving teen-agers occur at four times the rate of adult drivers. Research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that later, phased-in licensing for teen-agers can save lives.

Virginia's General Assembly, sad to say, has been going in reverse - the wrong way. In their session this year, legislators lowered the age required for a learner's permit from 15 years, 8 months to 15 years. That was a mistake.

What if young teens need a car to get to a job (in some cases to help buy their first car)? Too bad. They ought to be focusing on homework anyway.

We don't mean to be meanies. We can remember how important a driver's license is to a teen-ager. But the point of raising the driving age, and prolonging the learner-permit process, isn't to punish kids. It's to save them from themselves.

Teens make up some 7 percent of the population but account for 17 percent of fatal crash victims. In some cases, they take unnecessary risks, such as speeding or tailgating.

"Teen-agers at this age are still developing knowledge of responsibility," says Saffouri. "To give them a projectile of 2,000 pounds is very dangerous."

Saffouri says he'll seek a change in state law to require a minimum age of 17 years, 6 months for getting a driver's license (up from 16 years) ; and 16 years, 8 months for a learner's permit. We wish him luck.

Given political reality, we'd settle for ages 17 (driver's license) and 16 (learner's permit), plus a graduated permit process with stricter rules on night-driving and stricter consequences for traffic violations. These changes alone would save lives, and make Virginia roads and highways safer.

by CNB