Waiting another whole year to drive in metro Atlanta would near about break his heart.

"I think that kids our age are just as mature as older people," said John, a freshman at Milton High School in Alpharetta. He isn't taking too kindly to Gov. Barnes' idea of raising the driving age to 17 in Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Fulton and possibly other metro Atlanta counties.

"Freedom is an important thing," John said. "It kind of stops that freedom when you have this law passed."

While plenty of metro teens are taking a dim view of the governor's proposal -- whereby 16-year-olds could still get their license, but drive only outside those core metro counties -- some parents are relieved at the notion of their children spending an extra year as a passenger on metro streets.

"That sounds like a dandy idea," said Lisa Smith, whose children are 5, 8, 10 and 13. Smith is from Newnan but now lives in north Fulton County. Driving just isn't the same in both places, she said.

"I don't think it needs to be raised across the state, but in the metro area, I've seen so many accidents," she said.

Regina Parks, 17, lives outside the metro area but waited a year to get her license.

"I didn't want to be out there on the road with all the other drivers like me," she said. She's more confident now that she has completed a driver's education class, but she likes Barnes' proposal.

"I think it would give teenagers more experience and more time for on-the-road training because they would have their learner's permit for two years before they begin driving," Regina said.

But some say raising the driving age in four metro counties isn't the right response to the teen driving fatalities.

"Postponing something by a few months is really not the issue," said Julia Hanley of Lawrenceville, whose daughters are 16 and 19 years old. "Maturity is so variable. There are people who are very thoughtful and then there are people who are just too quick-acting."

She lets her 16-year-old drive short distances from home.

"Parents need to take a very active role in educating their own children on driving," Hanley said. "I just think time, experience, parental involvement and maturity are all the key issues."

Kristina Ramage, 16, just received her license and says her mother finally has a break from ferrying her around. She drives her mother's Buick, with certain restrictions. She doesn't drive on the highway and she can only work close to the family's Doraville home. Kristina is allowed to drive only to and from Cross Keys High School in DeKalb County, and not after dark unless the trip is work-related.

The governor's proposal strikes her as too drastic.

"From my point of view I really don't think [teen driving] is a problem," she said.

Jeff Hill, a senior at Lassiter High School in east Cobb, knows personally what can happen in an instant when teens take the wheel. His friend, 17-year-old Patrick Duggan, was critically injured Oct. 4 when his car slammed into a tree on Steinhauer Road. Hill, 18, still thinks the governor is misguided.

"It's totally discriminatory," he said. "There are many other things [Barnes] could do. He could provide mandatory driver's education. All you're doing is delaying the learning process. You can't characterize every driver as being the same. There are certain people who will take risks. Whether it's 16 or 17, how old you are isn't going to matter that much."

Lassiter parent Cathy Castardi applauds the idea. She says the proposal balances a need to address metro teen driving fatalities without holding teens in rural Georgia to the same restriction.

"This can make everybody happy," she said. "Well, my 14-year-old, I don't think he'll be real happy about it. None of the kids are going to be happy about it. You know what, this whole thing isn't about being happy or sad. It's about being alive or dead."