Senate OKs 4-county teen driver bill
2001 GEORGIA LEGISLATURE
Kathey Pruitt - Staff
Tuesday, March 20, 2001

Unsupervised 16-year-old drivers would be banned in four metro Atlanta counties as the Senate moved Monday to try to prevent escalating teen driving deaths.

The unanimous vote means a House-Senate conference committee probably will have to resolve the dispute over the controversial no-drive zone provision, after the House rejected a more comprehensive 18-county no-drive proposal earlier this session.

The teen restriction is part of a larger Barnes administration highway safety bill that also strengthens Georgia's drunken-driving and open-container laws. The bill lowers the threshold for being charged with DUI to 0.08, down from 0.10, and expands state law against open alcoholic beverage containers in vehicles to cover passengers as well as the driver. It also creates a new crime for road rage.

But the four-county restriction, perhaps the most controversial provision of Gov. Roy Barnes' agenda this year, drew plenty of vocal opposition from lawmakers who said it arbitrarily singles out some 16-year-olds.

"Has anybody thought about this? It's ludicrous," said Sen. Robert Lamutt (R-Marietta), who said children in the front half of his Cobb County subdivision wouldn't be able to drive at 16. But teens in the subdivision's back half, in Cherokee County, could legally drive solo at 16 as long as they don't use the subdivision's front entrance.

Other lawmakers argued that a no-drive zone in Cobb, Gwinnett, Fulton and DeKalb counties allows the state to make decisions that should be left to parents.

"I guess since youngsters are dying on the highway, we should not let them drive at all," Sen. Joey Brush (R-Appling) said sarcastically. "Lock them in a closet. That way we can save them all."

But Barnes' Senate point men said the measure, patterned after a two-tiered driving age in New York City, is a way to address teen driving deaths where they most frequently occur --- in the fast-growing, heavily congested Atlanta suburbs.

"This is the demographic that the governor . . . feels we're losing, due mostly to their lack of experience and to the superhighways," said Barnes' floor leader, Sen. Steve Thompson (D-Powder Springs).

Metro Atlanta parents support the change, several lawmakers argued. "When 85 percent of the parents in my district are asking for it, we ought to give it to them," said Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville).

Fatal accidents involving 16-year-old drivers in the four designated counties climbed from two in 1997 to 10 last year, according to statistics from the governor's office.

Thompson said that's proof metro Atlanta is becoming more dangerous for the youngest drivers.

That argument may be a tough sell in the state House, however. And Barnes' House Bill 385 must move back to that chamber for approval of the Senate changes.

Thompson acknowledges that the House "has spoken pretty loudly" by removing the larger, 18-county no-drive zone the governor initially proposed.

Barnes first shrank the no-drive zone to five counties in Senate committee, then dropped another county --- Clayton --- as the measure moved to the Senate floor Monday.

The stronger DUI and open-container provisions are required to keep the state from losing up to $218 million in federal money for roads during the next five years, state Department of Transportation officials said.

That package might make it harder for House lawmakers to vote against a conference committee report that includes the teen no-driving zone, since the report has to be approved or rejected in total, said House Motor Vehicles Chairman Bobby Parham (D-Milledgeville).

"It's kind of one of those 'ain't got no choice' " decisions, he said. "We've got to. Or I guess we do have a choice --- give up $218 million."

NEW RULES OF ROAD?
Highlights of teen driving bill (HB 385) as approved by the Senate:
Creates a four county no-drive zone for unsupervised 16-year-olds: Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Fulton.
Creates new crime of aggressive driving, or road rage. Convictions of acting to intimidate or harass another motorist would be a high and aggravated misdemeanor with a fine of $5,000 and 12 months in jail.
Creates pilot program by July 1, 2002, for renewing driver's licenses by Internet or mail.
Lowers the threshold for a drunken-driving charge to a 0.08 blood alcohol count, down from 0.10.
Extends state ban on open alcohol containers in not-for-hire vehicles to include passengers as well as the driver.
Second-time DUI offenders within five years could serve five days in jail. Repeat offenders would have licenses suspended for 12 months, would have to surrender their license tags and could not drive without an ignition interlock devise to test for alcohol.