Kids Driving Big Rigs--No Kidding

Just as some states are imposing new restrictions on young drivers in an effort to reduce road accidents, the federal government is about to propose allowing, on a trial basis, 18-year-olds to drive big rigs in interstate commerce. This is a dangerous and dumb idea, and there are plenty of highway casualty figures to prove it.

Washington justifies the federal pilot program by citing a shortage of truckers exacerbated by a long period of economic growth. The trial would put teenagers--the drivers with the highest crash risk of all age groups--behind the wheels of some semitrailer trucks, the most dangerous vehicles on the road. Nearly 5,300 people died in 1999 in accidents involving trucks, most of them in automobiles crushed by big rigs.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says precautions will be taken. The 1,000 young drivers in the program will undergo 48 weeks of classroom and road training and must have spotless driving records and pass an undefined “performance standard.” The current age limit for truckers is 21.

What this plan overlooks is that a vast majority of accidents among drivers 17 through 19 occur not because of poor training but because of driver error attributable to immaturity. Training and education do not make up for the sound judgment that usually comes with age and experience.

Long-haul trucking is tough. The drivers often drive unlawfully long hours to earn a rather meager living--the average annual pay is $36,000 to $40,000. Turnover is high and candidates are few. But putting teenagers behind the wheels of 100,000-pound rigs is not the way to solve the driver shortage. The feds should scrap the project.