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Teen driving laws hurt low-income families
Freesia Singngam
Issue date: 9/3/08 Section: Commentary
Many parents have to work long hours to support their families and may not have time to take a two-hour course with their children. Some teens live with a single parent working multiple jobs. Some teens do not even have parents or legal guardians. In all of these situations, the teens involved probably need a license more than anyone else.
Yes, the teen driving laws needed to be stricter to avoid more tragic deaths, and the state saw this. On top of the new training requirements, there is an earlier curfew of 11 p.m. for 16- and 17-year-olds and added penalties for driving recklessly, under the influence, with too many passengers, talking on a cell phone or not wearing a seat belt. Also, police now have the authority to seize and suspend a teen driver's license for 48 hours for certain moving violations. The license will be held for 48 hours, and to get it back, the teen and his parent or legal guardian must go to the police department and sign a statement acknowledging that the license has been returned.
The added penalties for breaking driving laws are a step in the right direction because they punish the teens driving irresponsibly. However, the additional required training hours are too much for many teens and their families, and they punish the wrong people.
Yes, the teen driving laws needed to be stricter to avoid more tragic deaths, and the state saw this. On top of the new training requirements, there is an earlier curfew of 11 p.m. for 16- and 17-year-olds and added penalties for driving recklessly, under the influence, with too many passengers, talking on a cell phone or not wearing a seat belt. Also, police now have the authority to seize and suspend a teen driver's license for 48 hours for certain moving violations. The license will be held for 48 hours, and to get it back, the teen and his parent or legal guardian must go to the police department and sign a statement acknowledging that the license has been returned.
The added penalties for breaking driving laws are a step in the right direction because they punish the teens driving irresponsibly. However, the additional required training hours are too much for many teens and their families, and they punish the wrong people.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Carol
posted 9/03/08 @ 6:08 PM EST
Yes, it's true that $535+ may be prohibitively expensive for some low-income families. But the requirement to have more hours of training and practice before achieving your first driver's license is not a punishment, it's a necessity! I think that the problem is with privatizing driver's education from the public schools to the commercial, for-profit driving schools where profit, not safety, is the main motive. (Continued…)
TB
posted 9/03/08 @ 8:30 PM EST
Can't afford all that comes with a license? Get off your lazy ass and WALK, ride a bike, or use public transportation. People wonder why this generation has so much obesity. (Continued…)
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