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Table talk

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 22, 2007

In the classroom or around the dinner table at home, here's a hot topic to serve up.

Driver's license limits

Students with learner's permits may not like the idea of waiting up to two years to become fully licensed drivers, but they probably should get used to it. As evidence accumulates that graduated licensing is saving lives, many states are likely to become stricter. On average, states using graduated licensing have seen 11 percent fewer fatal crashes by 16-year-old drivers. In California, which has used graduated licensing since 1998, the program was found to have reduced accidents involving 16-year-old drivers by 23 percent, and now the state has cracked down even more. It withholds learner's permits until age 151/2, and moved its driving curfew from midnight to 11 p.m. Nearly every state now has some form of graduated licensing, but five - Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, North Dakota and Minnesota - neither limit the number of passengers a teen can drive nor set a curfew. Studies have found that the risk of crashes by new teen drivers increases when they have teen passengers, and in the late evening. Still, although teens account for only 7 percent of drivers, they're responsible for 14 percent of auto fatalities. Check the Times for reports of car crashes. What factors do the crashes tend to have in common? Are teens involved in any crashes? Based on what you read about crashes, how would you change your own approach to driving?

Classroom/living room debate: What do you think is the right age for a teen to begin driving? Do you support delaying the age at which teens can drive passengers or drive in the late evening? Do you think most of your peers are, or would be, responsible drivers? How do your views differ from those of your parents? What evidence would you use to convince them that you would be a safe driver?

Talk back

Here is what some teens are saying about this debate. Go to the Newspaper in Education- moderated blog at blogs.tampabay.com/nie to share your views on this week's topic. You may see more here next week.

"I've had my driver's license for a few months, and my parents have their own graduated licensing policy for me. I am only allowed to drive to sports practices or school events and they need to know what route I am taking and the time I will be back. Because of insurance liability issues, they do not let other students ride in the car."

Katie Armstrong, 10th grade, Boca Ciega High School, Gulfport

"To convince my parents that I would be a safe driver, I would suggest they institute a zero tolerance policy for the first year I drove on my own. As long as I drove the car in a safe manner, I could have that privilege. One speeding ticket or other unsafe driving action and they could take back the keys."

Jared Walker, 10th grade, Gibbs High School, St. Petersburg

[Last modified January 22, 2007, 01:01:28]