THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160254
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 132 lines
A community forum on a new driver's license program sounded for a while more like a meeting of Drivers Anonymous.
The American Automobile Association representative admitted she'd had three accidents within a year of getting her license. Others also came clean on traffic transgressions during their youth.
Even Elizabeth City's new police chief, Michael Lloyd, confessed to losing his license at 16 after getting two tickets.
Sixteen-year-old drivers, Lloyd insisted, ``simply don't have the experience of dealing with the simple laws of physics while driving a 2,000- or 3,000-pound vehicle.''
A lot of people throughout North Carolina apparently agree with Lloyd, including members of the Governor's Highway Safety Commission. The commission wants this year's General Assembly to adopt an 18-month, three-tiered system for new drivers between the ages of 16 and 17.
Transportation officials laid out plans for the program during an information session Tuesday night at the Holiday Inn.
Graduated Driver Licensing creates a new weaning process for teen drivers that keeps them off the road during more dangerous settings.
The earliest a teen could be fully licensed to drive would be at the age of 16 1/2.
Currently, a teen as young as 14 1/2 need only have six hours of behind-the-wheel experience to qualify for a learner's permit. A full license can be obtained as early as the teen's 16th birthday.
If the new licensing program works as intended, the system could drastically reduce the number of serious and fatal car accidents in the state.
``Without question, automobiles are the No. 1 killer of young adults in North Carolina, as well as the nation,'' said Bill Tolbert of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.
In North Carolina, 138 people have died in accidents caused by 16- and 17-year-old drivers in the last two years. Less than half of the fatalities were the drivers themselves.
One in four 16-year-old drivers in North Carolina is involved in a car crash each year. About half of the accidents result in serious or fatal injuries, highway safety research indicates.
Poor judgment and peer pressure appear to be the biggest factors behind the accidents, according to researchers.
The percentage of teen driversinvolved in accidents drops significantly from 25 percent for 16-year-olds to 18 percent for 17-year-olds and 15 percent for 18- and 19-year-olds. Experts believe the accident-rate decrease results from experience and maturity.
Nationally, last year almost 8,000 young drivers were involved in accidents that resulted in a fatality. Some 3,351 of these drivers died in the crash, according to the American Coalition for Traffic Safety in Arlington, Va.
Without change, those numbers are likely to grow as both speed limits and the young-driver population increase, highway officials said.
Under North Carolina's Graduated Driver Licensing, Level One begins after a person turns 15, completes driver's education and obtains a learner's permit.
The teen is then allowed to drive with a parent, guardian or other approved, licensed adult for the next 12 months.
If the teen's driving record remains clean, he or she can move on to Level Two, which allows unsupervised driving between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m.
The curfew is a result of research showing the rate of accidents among 16- and 17-year-old drivers increases significantly between 9 p.m. and midnight, officials said.
If a driver has no traffic violations for the next six months, a full provisional license - what is now given to any new driver under 18 - is issued at Level Three.
The proposal's architects had hoped to restrict the number of teen passengers a limited-licensed driver could carry. But that provision proved unpopular with Carolina residents and was removed.
The overall program, however, has been endorsed by dozens of public and private organizations with an interest in highway safety.
Among them is the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
``The reason we support it is because it saves lives,'' said Sgt. B.E. Brown of Greenville, one of six speakers at Tuesday's sparsely attended session.
``You really don't know what heartache is until you knock on someone's door and tell them their son or daughter won't be coming home tonight because they were in a car accident,'' the state trooper said.
Not everyone endorses the plan as it is now written.
Ken Harrod of Elizabeth City took exception with the proposal's target group. He said experience - not age - should be the criterion for falling under the provisional system.
``Whether you're a new driver at 16 or 24, inexperience is the problem, not youth,'' Harrod said.
The local radio talk show host said some of his callers have complained that this is another example of parents turning over responsibility of their children to the government.
Parents in states with similar programs aren't happy with their prolonged chauffeur duties. Other critics believe such systems violate teens' civil rights.
Johnny McCoy, 74, of Wilmington, who serves on the state highway safety commission, said he's had plenty of experience with teen drivers within his family ``and I know what these young people do when they get behind a steering wheel.''
He reminded the audience that ``driving is not a right. It's a privilege.''
Pete Rogers of Elizabeth City said he likes the plan, but he wishes it were even more restrictive. He'd like to see the minimum age to obtain a learner's permit raised to 16.
Rogers originally is from New Jersey, the only state that does not license drivers under 17. All other states have a minimum age of 15 or 16.
``I just find it incredible that kids from Northeastern (High School in Elizabeth City) and around the state are driving to high school as freshmen,'' Rogers said.
The measure is expected to be debated during the legislative session that begins later this month in Raleigh.
Graduated Licensing apparently was introduced last year and then moth-balled by a Senate committee.
Proponents like Durwood Laughinghouse, who is vice chairman of the highway safety commission, say the final version of the program will likely be different than the one presented Tuesday.
``There's not a lot of hope this will go through intact,'' Laughinghouse said. ``There's going to be a whole lot of compromise in this process.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
GRADUATED DRIVER LICENSING
LEVEL 1 (Limited Learner's Permit)
Must be 15 and drive with supervised adult for 12 months.
Everyone in car must wear seat belt.
Can progress to next stage if there are no traffic violations for
full year.
LEVEL 2 (Limited Provisional License)
Same seat-belt rules.
Can drive unsupervised between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Working teens may be given an exemption to the 9 p.m. curfew.
Must be violation-free for six months to advance to next level.
LEVEL 3 (Full Provisional License Until Age 18)
Unsupervised driving allowed at any time.
Everyone must wear seat belts.
Same regulations as current provisional license-holders apply.
KEYWORDS: DRIVER LICENSE TEENAGER