Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, supports laws increasing regulations on teen drivers and indicates that he will propose legislation to raise the age of unsupervised driving to 16.
Lawmakers in the third most dangerous state in the nation for drivers need to do more to protect young drivers, and as a consequence other South Carolinians.
South Carolina instituted a graduated driving-license law in 1998, and that has helped lower the teen-accident rate, according to the S.C. Insurance News Service. But other states, with stricter regulations, have seen crash rates for teens fall even further. In South Carolina, accidents dropped about 1 percent, but in North Carolina, they dropped 37 percent, according to an Associated Press story.
A half century ago, the state's teenagers could get a restricted license when only 14 years old and a full license when only 16 years old.
An increase in traffic and an increase in the number of wrecks led lawmakers to change the law, but by 1998 the law still only required 16-year-olds to get driver training before they get a license. By 2000, new rules reduced the number of accidents from 5,385 to 4,792.
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Association, two-fifths of U.S. teen deaths are a result of vehicle accidents. According to a 2003 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16- to 19-year-olds have the highest risk of any group for car crashes. More than 4,700 teens in this group died of injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes.
S.C. teens need to hear the harsh reality in 2005.
As has been pointed out here before, all South Carolinians may benefit from more stringent laws. A safer driving record for the group may reduce insurance premiums, saving parents collectively millions of dollars.
Young lives are important and state lawmakers should enact tough laws to protect them. Passage of a more a stringent law governing teen driving will take courage, but lawmakers should stay the course.