Family & Consumer Sciences

HOME

Kentucky High School Financial Planning Home Page

Back to E-Mail Updates page

HSFPP Weekly Update # 149—Graduated Licensing Saves Lives

Message from Bob & Chris: Graduated licensing is long overdue in Kentucky, especially considering where Kentucky ranks in teenage deaths from car accidents. The extra six months of training time better prepares teens to drive an automobile. Graduated licensing should be implemented in every state.

Adults who are having physical or other problems also can be a danger on the road, so safeguards should be in place to protect them and other drivers when they are not fit to drive or they need additional driver training.

 

Related Updates:

Update #138 - Drinking and Driving - 24 October 2005
Update #128 - Used Car Buying III - 9 May 2005
Update #120 - Is Talking While Driving Dangerous - 7 March 2005
Update #94 - Size and Weight in Cars - 10 May 2004
Update #90 - Buying a Used Vehicle - 8 April 2004
Update #71 / #72 - Risks Not Worth Taking - 27 October 2003

 

Website Pick of the Week:

http://www.teendriving.com/

Teen Driving’s Web site includes information on driving in a variety of situations, safety ideas, used car buying, and car insurance.

 

Notes to Educators:

Have students read this week’s article In the New$... and then answer the following discussion questions.

 

Discussion Questions:

1.) If you are or a teenage sibling are driving now and have already had an accident, how much extra are you now paying for vehicle insurance?

 

2.) Is graduated licensing for teenagers a good idea? Explain why or why not.

 

3.) Do you agree or disagree that teens are more likely than adults to lose focus while driving and not pay attention to the road?

 

4.) Have you or someone you know been affected by a car accident involving teen drivers?

 

5.) How can you drive more safely? (Speed, risk taking, courtesy, for instance.)

 

6.) If teens are going to be restricted further in their driving, do you think there should be amendments to the bills now in the Kentucky Legislature requiring that adults who have had more than one accident in which they were at fault within a two-year period must pass road tests to keep their license?

 

Follow Up Activity:

English Class: Write a letter to your state representative (General Assembly) giving your opinion on the proposed graduated licensing bill. The following two Web sites will help. 

http://wv.essortment.com/writeyourcongr_rcem.htm
http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/guide/lettertotheeditor.html

In the New$... Graduated Licensing Saves Lives

By Chris Hart, Senior in Communications, University of Kentucky

When I received my permit to begin driving in Maryland, I found the graduated driving system a little annoying; but, after receiving the graduated license, I could still drive without my parents, and I wasn’t out later than 12 AM often, if at all. If graduated licensing can save lives, then it is definitely worth it. For me there is clearly a difference in my driving ability, concentration, and decision-making skill between now (age 22) and when I was 16. I am much more comfortable driving in heavy traffic and on Interstate highways than I was then.

From: Lexington Herald-Leader, Editorial, 2/01/06:

“Senate Bill 13 or House Bill 90: Each of these bills provides for a graduated driver's license for teens. One version of this good idea that can save lives should be on the books when the General Assembly session ends.”

From: “Time to tighten the safety belt?” by Jennifer Hewlett and John Stamper,
Lexington Herald-Leader, 1/29/06:

“Following national reports that show Kentucky is one of the deadliest states for teen drivers, legislative leaders from both parties say they support bills in Frankfort that would restrict the driving hours for teens and limit the number of young passengers in a vehicle driven by a novice driver.

“The bills also have garnered support from parents and medical professionals and from a youth advocacy group that on Monday will launch a statewide advertising campaign in support of the restrictions.

“‘I work in a clinic where we talk with families who would like to have this law so they wouldn't be responsible for laying down the law for their kids,’ said Dr. Susan Pollack, head of pediatric and adolescent injury prevention at the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center at the University of Kentucky.

“Under the proposed laws, a teen driver who has held an instruction permit for six months must then hold an intermediate license for six months. One proposal, which passed the House Transportation Committee last week, would limit holders of an intermediate license to one passenger under the age of 20. They also would not be allowed to drive between midnight and 6 a.m., except in emergencies or to go to work.

“An otherwise similar bill in the Senate would allow those with an intermediate license to carry two passengers under the age of 18.

“Currently, Kentucky teenagers hold an instruction permit for six months. They must take a four-hour driver education course within a year of obtaining their license.

“‘That extra six months makes a big difference,’ Pollack said. ‘I've worked with teen patients for years. We know this (car crashes) is the No. 1 killer of teens.’

“They want fewer funerals

“State Rep. Tom Burch (D-Louisville) is one of several legislators spearheading the move for tougher requirements. His granddaughter, Cassandra Burch, died from injuries received in a one-vehicle accident about six years ago in Jefferson County. She was 17.

“‘I'd like to keep some other families from having to experience that,’ Burch said.

“State Sen. Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, sponsor of the Senate bill, said her 16-year-old daughter had an accident within 30 days of getting her permit. Although the accident was not the teen's fault, she ‘might have been able to react differently’ had she had more experience behind the wheel, Angel said.

“‘When children get their license, they're just off and running,’ she said. She said teenagers have too many things to distract them while driving, including cell phones, loud music and fast food. ‘I think our teenagers are really understanding (of the proposed law) because they go to funeral homes to visit their friends,’ she said.

“A recent study by AAA put Kentucky's teen crash rates in the national spotlight. Between 1995 and 2004, there were 696 deaths in crashes involving drivers aged 15 to 17 in Kentucky, the report said. Nearly 43 percent of those killed in the wrecks were the teen drivers themselves. Kentucky ranked 5th in the percentage of teen drivers killed behind only North Dakota, Vermont, Nebraska and Arkansas.

“Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds nationwide, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. From 1995 through 2004, almost 64,000 people ages 15 through 20 died in traffic crashes.

“According to the NTSB, young drivers do only 20 percent of their driving at night, but over half of those drivers who are killed in traffic accidents are killed in crashes that occur at night. Also, the risk of a crash involving a teenage driver increases with each additional teen passenger in the vehicle.

“Unlike driver's education courses, which experts say have failed to reduce teen crash rates, having tough graduated driver's license requirements lowers the number of accidents by 10 to 30 percent, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

“‘Graduated licensing has been the only thing that has worked,’ said spokesman Russ Rader.”

 

Kentucky High School Financial Planning Program
http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/hsfp
The purpose of the HSFPP weekly financial updates and Web site is to assist county Extension agents, credit union educators, high school teachers, and parents who home school their teenagers so that they may improve the economic well-being of our teenagers; and also to show educators how the HSFPP and the weekly updates meet Kentucky core concepts. The Web site and weekly updates are provided by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, and are free to all educators. The list of core concepts and order form for free program materials including the student guide and instructors manual can be found on the Kentucky HSFPP home page.