Tucson, Arizona Thursday, 23 January 2003
By Howard Fischer
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/30123RTEENDRIVER.html
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
PHOENIX - It's 2 a.m. Do you know where your teen-ager is?
If the child is younger than 18, Sen. Linda Binder wants to be sure he or she is not behind the wheel of a car. The Lake Havasu City Republican wants to make it illegal for teens who have not reached that age to be driving between 1 and 5 a.m.
Binder's legislation, SB 1055, also would prevent anyone under 18 from even getting a driver's license without first going through a state-approved driver training course. Gone would be a provision allowing Mom or Dad to meet that mandate simply by taking junior out on the road.
In both cases, Binder said, the issue is safety.
"This just gives the police another tool," she said. "If a kid's out there driving erratically or doing inappropriate behavior at that time of night, they've got a good reason to inquire what's happening."
Binder's plan does allow for exceptions.
A teen whose parent or guardian is in the vehicle would not be breaking the law. Driving to or from a job at that hour also would be legal, as would taking the car out in the case of an emergency.
State legislators set up a special Class G license for teens five years ago. That law requires driver training for anyone age 16 or 17 to get a license.
But legislators included an "out" permitting teens to skip that training if a parent or guardian certifies that the youngster has completed at least 25 hours of supervised driving practice, including a minimum of five hours after dark.
Binder said that's not enough.
"We put these children in charge of a deadly weapon," she said. "Sometimes the parents aren't the best teachers."
Binder acknowledged that her proposal might create hardships for students in school districts that do not offer driver education. That would leave commercial driving schools as the sole alternative, but she said the cost would be recouped by the discount most insurance companies provide in premiums charged to teens who have completed an approved course.