ORANGE COUNTY VOICES : We Should Follow New Zealand’s Lead in Curbing Teen Traffic Deaths

Teen-agers are killing themselves by droves in car crashes. Yet, despite the pessimistic statistics, there may be hope that the death rates will decrease.

New Zealand, as an example, has reduced its teen-age accidents rate by 85%-- an astounding reduction. Several states in this country have drastically lowered the numbers of young people killed or injured by adopting some of the innovations effected by the New Zealanders.

Consider some of the statistics from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles:

* In 1988, the last year for which such statistics are available, 882,700 teen-agers were involved in fatal or serious injury accidents in California.

* Although children under 15 years of age cannot legally drive a car, 13 boys and one girl under 14 were at fault in fatal crashes that year, and an additional 441 youngsters were involved in injury accidents involving cars.

* Among teen-agers, the worst age for car crashes was 18. In 1988, 131 boys and 25 girls, all age 18, were involved in fatal car crashes, and 18-year-olds were determined to be at fault in an additional 8,575 injury accidents.

Most of these crashes were caused by drivers who had been drinking alcohol. According to Ken Daily, public affairs officer for the California Highway Patrol at the San Juan Capistrano-area office, it is not unusual to find 14-year-olds driving drunk and causing fatal accidents.

What has been New Zealand’s secret for reducing the teen-age deaths?

It adopted a serious code of driving and licensing regulations. As in most of the United States, 15-year-olds can begin to study and learn to drive. But until they’ve proved they’re competent, they must be accompanied by an adult who has at least two years’ driving experience. And even youths who have passed their initial tests and have advanced to a “restricted” license cannot drive at night between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. That’s when a majority of the accidents have taken place.

These stiffer regulations did not come about easily.

Parents in New Zealand, who are pestered by children for the privilege of driving, haven’t made it easier for the Ministry of Transport--but the big drop in fatalities among teen-agers tells the story.

To encourage compliance with the stiff regulations, the New Zealand law provides for extensions of the restricted driving stage for up to six months for every violation of the driving conditions. That keeps most young drivers in line.

In an attempt to curb the slaughter of teen-agers in this country, a few states are leading the way in emulating the New Zealand policy to keep teen-agers from behind the wheel after 10 p.m., when most drinking and driving and serious accidents occur.

New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have shown impressive reductions in teen-age fatalities by adopting curfew laws. Pennsylvania’s safety officials reported a reduction of 69% in car-crash fatalities among teen-agers in 1988. New York reported a 62% drop. In addition, Maryland and Louisiana have smaller, but impressive, decreases in accidents involving youths.

Is it important to adopt the stringent regulations that New Zealand and some of the eastern states have? Consider that in California there are 66 auto accidents every hour. That’s about 48,000 car crashes a month. In more than half of those accidents, drivers had been using alcohol. The needless waste and human suffering, which often last a lifetime, are unpardonable.

How long will the parents of teen-agers tolerate this? In New Zealand, and several states here, parents and authorities decided it was time adults, not juveniles, set standards that could help reduce the horrific accident rate.

It is time young California drivers were made keenly aware of their responsibilities, to others as well as to themselves. They could be, if only a sufficiently large segment of the public demanded it from their lethargic legislators.