Web posted
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
State may limit young drivers
By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press Writer
TOPEKA -- Nick Schwager is 15 and has a restricted license that allows him to drive unsupervised to and from school. In his church youth group, Allison Ohnmacht is older and, at 16, has an unrestricted license.
They were visiting the Statehouse from Great Bend on Tuesday and didn't much like what they heard about a bill being discussed by the House Transportation Committee.
The bill would make teenagers wait longer to obtain a learner's permit or license. No longer could most 14-year-olds get behind the wheel; a teenager couldn't get an unrestricted license until six months after turning 16.
Schwager contemplated what it would be like to have his father still drive him to school every day. Ohnmacht didn't like the thought of being taxied around town by her parents -- and doubted her parents would like it much, either.
But when church youth leader Pam Vainer suggests that teenagers would be safe to wait another six months before getting a license, they don't argue.
''As a youth leader, I have seen two kids die in one year in car accidents and had two teenage sons -- who are now adults -- and some of the things that they did, I don't even want to hear about,'' said Vainer, director of religious education for Great Bend's Catholic parish.
The House committee's discussion about the bill was similarly animated, with some members expressing skepticism that it would accomplish supporters' goal of making teenagers drive more safely. Rep. Gary Hayzlett, a Lakin Republican, said he might appoint a subcommittee to draft an alternative.
Several committee members questioned whether it would be more effective to mandate more hours of supervised driving for teens before they can get a license, rather than rewrite laws that determine when they can get learner's permits and licenses.
''It doesn't seem like to me that we're actually providing an opportunity for young drivers to learn,'' said Rep. Jeff King, an Independence Republican.
The bill would make Kansas driver's license laws similar to those in 46 other states, according to AAA. The Senate approved it last year, but the House committee put off action on it for further study.
State law says 14-year-olds can obtain learner's permits that allow them to drive with an adult in the front seat. The bill would raise the age to, 15 but create a special farm permit for 14-year-olds.
That provision deals with an issue that has prevented passage of previous bills dealing with young drivers -- that farmers would be deprived of a significant part of their work force because the teenagers couldn't drive.
''We're sort of OK with where things are at so far, but it's a little early in the process to say that we're done watching this bill,'' said Terry Holdren, a lobbyist for the Kansas Farm Bureau.
The measure also would prohibit drivers with a learner's permit from using cell phones or other wireless communications devices while behind the wheel.
Before getting a restricted license at 16, teenagers would have to show -- as they do now, when they turn 15 -- that they had completed a driver's ed course and put in 50 hours behind the wheel under adult supervision.
For six months, they couldn't drive unsupervised from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., unless they were going to or from work, a school-sponsored event or a religious activity. They also couldn't have more than one passenger under 21 in the car.
Ohnmacht said the restrictions on carrying passengers wouldn't be a big deal, because her parents don't let her do that, anyway. But not being able to drive unsupervised would be ''a bad deal.''
''Your parents would have to take you out, wherever you're going,'' she said.
Schwager added: ''It'd kind of be hard.''
Jim Hanni, who lobbies for the insurance company that serves AAA members, said the restrictions on nighttime driving are important because that's the riskiest time for young drivers.
''We're putting young people in an adult situations and asking them to perform like adults,'' he said after the Transportation Committee's meeting. ''It's just not fair or practical or reasonable to expect that.''
And Rep. Mark Treaster said several friends have lost children to car accidents.
''I think the purpose of this bill, where it's been enacted, is to save lives,'' said Treaster, a Democrat from Pretty Prairie. ''Let's find a way to get this out of committee.''
Driver's license bill is SB 294.
|
