Barnes said today he will introduce legislation this month to boost the minimum solo driving age to 17 in counties that have been hit hardest by teenage driving fatalities -- the congested and fast-growing counties around Atlanta.
Exactly which counties would be off limits to 16-year-old drivers still must be determined but the governor said, at a minimum, he will propose legislation that would limit driving privileges in Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties.
Practically speaking, that means teenagers will still be able to get a driver's license at 16 and use it to drive in other parts of the state. But in metro Atlanta, that license would be tantamount only to a learner's permit: Teens, regardless of where they live, couldn't drive on any streets in affected counties without an adult or guardian until they're 17.
"Many places in metro Atlanta are just as congested as Manhattan,'' Barnes said as he announced his proposal during a taping of GPTV's "Georgia Week in Review" that will air tonight.
Boosting the age for some of the most congested and deadly streets for teenage drivers will likely have the support of those who have sought to put stronger restrictions on young drivers after a spate of accidents involving teenagers killed 22 people in metro Atlanta last year.
Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and Sen. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) are proposing a bipartisan package that would increase the teenage driving curfew in all parts of the state, mandate 40 hours of driver instruction as a licensing condition and impose passenger restrictions on 16-year-olds.
But the age increase is likely to run into opposition from some metro area parents who object to the added burdens of having to ferry 16-year-olds to social, school and athletic events. Barnes said potential opponents need to look at the overall picture.
"To parents, I have this message: I'd rather have a live child and balance that against a little inconvenience," he said.
How the measure would be enforced -- and what penalities would be proposed for violators -- is still being determined, the governor's office said.
Barnes admitted he tailored his proposal to accommodate the concerns of rural lawmakers who say there's no need to restrict 16-year-olds who need to drive to school, work or help on family farms when those areas don't have the unforgiving driving conditions and traffic that metro Atlanta does.
House Speaker Tom Murphy (D-Bremen) said recently, "I wouldn't want to increase the age to 17. That penalizes us folks in rural Georgia badly."
The governor agreed. "They can take the crops to market" at 16, he said, "but they can't come and contribute to traffic in the metro Atlanta region."