| METRO NEWS | TODAY • September 22, 2000 |
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Cobb Republican hopes top Democrats will back push to raise age for license to 17.
Jim Galloway - Staff
Friday, September 22, 2000
A Cobb County state senator said Thursday that he'd make 16-year-old drivers prove they've spent 40 hours on the road before handing them their licenses.
He also would like to tighten the driving curfew for 16-year-olds and bar them from hauling around more than one of their friends.
But state Sen. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) said he hasn't decided whether to push again to raise the minimum age for a license to 17. That, he said, would depend on conversations with Gov. Roy Barnes and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor. Gingrey said the governor has indicated he might look favorably on the age increase. Gingrey made his remarks to a 12-member citizens panel appointed by the Cobb County Commission to look at safety issues.
So far this year, 12 of the 39 people killed in Cobb County traffic accidents have been under the age of 21, said Lt. George Hatfield of the county Police Department. Five of those 12 were drivers and were judged at fault in the accidents.
In the last session of the General Assembly, Gingrey's bill to raise the age requirement for Georgia drivers died in committee, opposed by rural legislators who said their young people shouldn't have to pay "for the sins of Atlanta," the Republican legislator said.
In the session that begins in January, Gingrey said he wouldn't push for an age increase to 17 unless he gets help from members of the Democratic leadership.
However, Gingrey said he'll introduce a bill to mandate more experience for Georgia's youngest drivers.
Before a 16-year-old is issued a license, parents would have to sign an affidavit certifying that their child had 40 hours of driving experience. Six of those hours would have to be at night.
The west Cobb legislator said he supports driver education programs in school, but said they're not enough. "The public has the perception that if their youngster has taken a driver's education course, then that kid is a safe driver," he said.
Right now, drivers age 16 to 18 must observe a 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, with exceptions for driving to and from work and church. Gingrey would tighten that for 16-year-olds and would bar them from driving between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. --- with no exceptions.
Young drivers also are permitted to have three nonfamily passengers with them under age 21. For 16-year-olds only, Gingrey would whittle that down to one.
>ON THE WEB: Should teen driving laws be made tougher? www.accessatlanta.com/living/autos/forum/driving.html