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Elliott Brack - Staff
Sunday, September 17, 2000
The recent deaths involving teenage drivers in metro Atlanta has one Gwinnettian not only concerned, but also energized to seek to change the laws licensing teenage driving.
Brian Luders, 43, a Lawrenceville accountant, says that since his son, Brandon, now 16, has had a learner's permit, the subject of teenage driving has been "close to my heart." And he's swung into action. He and his wife, Lori, also have a 13-year-old, Christopher.
Luders' first job was to compile loads of statistics, which he put on a special Web site, www.geocities.com/scared_ga. Luders says, "The 'scared' stands for 'smart choices are the result of educated drivers.' My evaluation of the problem is that the kids are making bad choices, do not have the experience, and therefore are not prepared for the driving conditions they face."
His site links to teen driving information on many other sites. It also includes a continually updated graph showing a high incidence of teen deaths per passenger mile.
Another linkage on the site is to a Handbook for Responsible Driving for Parents and Teens from the Cobb County Teen Drive Awareness Committee.
Other information on the site shows some 45,108 Georgia revocations of licenses in a two-year period for teen drivers. The site notes: "Drivers under age 21 account for about one third of all speed related crashes and deaths."
Luders maintains teens today are not adqequately tested. He shows pictures on his Web page of the facilities at the State Patrol office in Lawrenceville that he terms inadquate.
"The driver's test is a joke," he says. "It's not the State Patrol's fault. They don't have the resources they need. We need to have funding to get the kids out on the road for the driver's test, or else simulate driving conditions, where they can get up to traffic speed."
What Luders would like to see for teen drivers is a greatly improved system. "Teen drivers have the highest death rate per mile among all age groups. We need to have the law changed to tighten the process," he says.
Among his suggestions:
A different licensing system. "In some states, a teen driver can't have a passenger in the car with him for the first six months."
Mandatory driver's education classes
Required parental mentoring
A driver's log requiring 100 hours of driving experience prior to licensing
Once the teen gets a license, Luders would like to see an additional two-year probation of stringent observation regarding driving violations prior to being granted a full adult license.
The driving age is not the key for Luders: "I do not believe the Legislature will change the age. In some states you can get a learner's permit at age 14." He adds: "Mercy!"
Luders' efforts to change legislation includes a plan to mail letters to all Georgia legislators. Included in each letter will be a Ziploc bag of glass shards, which Luders swept up from a recent auto accident on Medlock Bridge Road in north Fulton County in which four teens were killed.
"These shards of glass will be little pieces of reminders for the legislators. It'll say this is not just a concept, but reality."
Brian Luders maintains: "I'm just a dad. It just breaks my heart when we read about another teen death, such as those deaths at Brookwood several years ago.
"That's why we need the laws changed, to make driving safer for teens."
Gwinnet associate publisher
email: [email protected]