New rules for teen drivers

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Standard Journal

REXBURG - New restrictions for teenage drivers to ensure their safety as well as the public's take effect Sunday.

The Idaho Transportation Department says the new law will restrict the number of passengers that can ride in a vehicle operated by a driver younger than 17 to just one - that is, unless the passengers are related to the driver. The new passenger restriction is in effect for six months after the license is issued.

Another change is the two month extension in supervised driving, bringing the total length of adult supervision to six months. The extension will affect those completing their drivers training after June 30.

''I think they (the restrictions) are good. I am a parent of a 16-year-old and I think the extra time will help them,'' Madison County Driver's License Examiner Karen Hilder said.

The news release said the extended period of supervised driving time will allow teens a more realistic time frame to complete the 50 hours of driving practice required.

The IdahoTransportation Department has mailed letters to those who currently have driver's training permits notifying them of the new requirements.

''We have had some calls here and there asking about the change, but mostly it has had an effect on those going through the driver's education program right now,'' Hilder said.

In the Madison School District driver's education program there are 48 students enrolled for the summer course. District Secretary Tammy Sorensen said the course is a minimum of six weeks.

Roger Smith, a teacher at South Fremont High School, is the driver's education instructor for the Fremont School District during the summer. He was driving with students and was unavailable for comment.

Both his students and the 48 Madison School District students will be affected by these new restrictions first as their training will not be complete by June 30. Highway Safety Specialist for the ITD Margaret Goertz said the new laws were enacted to help reduce teen crashes.

''Although teen drivers ages 15 to 17 represent just 3 percent of all licensed Idaho drivers, they accounted for 8.6 percent of all fatal and injury crashes in 2006,'' she said. ''Limiting risks during the first years of driving can reduce teen crashes and save lives.''

The graduated driver-licensing program was enacted in Idaho in 2001 but Goertz said despite a decrease in serious injuries and fatal collisions during the first four years of the passage of the program, teens 15 to 19 are still ''overrepresented in fatalities, injuries, and aggressive driving collisions.''

She said the new restrictions are another step Idaho is taking to protect its young drivers.

BY KYRA DAVIS

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