Licensed to not kill

There was good news for the nation — and especially for California — in a report released last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control: Fatalities among teenage drivers have fallen steadily and markedly since the mid-1990s. From 2004-08 alone, they dropped by more than a third — and in California, by more than half. The state’s fatality rate for teen drivers during those years was the third lowest in the nation.

This isn’t just a happy coincidence. The CDC report notes that new air-bag regulations and other safety requirements for passenger vehicles helped keep teens safer during crashes. Higher gasoline prices and the tighter economy meant teenagers put in fewer miles behind the wheel.

But the CDC analysis attributes most of the drop to graduated-license laws, under which new teenage drivers are subject to restrictions on their driving privileges during the first year or two. In California, a 1998 law increased the amount of training 16- and 17-year-old drivers must receive before taking their driving test; then, for six months after being licensed, they must have adult supervision while driving late at night or with minors in the car. In 2006, the provisional-license period was doubled to a year. Whether it’s that second law, the economy, just luck or most likely a combination of factors, the number of teenage driving fatalities in the state fell to 67 in 2008, barely more than half what it had been the year before.

Only New York and New Jersey, which have even more restrictive rules for the youngest drivers, showed lower death rates. The more rigorous the rules, the more lives saved. Teen drivers are more likely to be involved in car accidents when their colleagues go along for the ride — and the more teen passengers, the higher the chance of a crash.

Wyoming, take note. That state, with its unusually loose driving laws under which even some 14- and 15-year-olds can qualify for restricted licenses, also had by far the highest teen fatality rate in the CDC study, more than five times California’s. Nationwide, traffic accidents remain the leading cause of teenage deaths in the United States.

There will be debate forever about the extent to which government should infringe on personal freedom, but there should be no argument about our collective responsibility to protect the safety of minors — and the innocent drivers and passengers who might be injured or killed in collisions with inexperienced, overconfident teen drivers. Findings such as these from the CDC should encourage Congress to set minimal graduated-license rules nationwide, tied to the disbursement of federal highway funds. Not all states necessarily need laws as restrictive as New Jersey’s where drivers must turn 17 before obtaining a license, but better laws would continue to reduce deaths.