| METRO NEWS | TODAY • September 26, 2000 |
 | |
|
| ||||||||||
TEEN DRIVING DILEMMA
Jim Galloway - Staff
Tuesday, September 26, 2000
November is likely to be a big month for Phil Gingrey.
He'll be formally re-elected to his state Senate seat, after winning the July primary. On the same ballot, Cobb County voters will vote on a measure that would freeze property reassessments, and prevent the tax increases that often come with them. Gingrey was one of the primary sponsors.
Also in November, the 58-year-old Republican probably will figure out whether he has the Democratic support he needs to mount another effort to raise the age for a driver's license from 16 to 17.
Since the weekend, when two 16-year-olds died in an alleged drag-racing incident, Gingrey's phone has rung off its hook. A TV camera crew came off the field during the Atlanta Falcons-St. Louis Rams game Sunday to interview him in a skybox.
"It's sad. No politician wants to avoid publicity, but this isn't the way to get it," he said Monday.
In two short years, the senator representing west Cobb and south Cherokee counties has become something of an up-and-comer. He's made a name for himself by latching onto key suburban issues, and through his fund-raising.
In 1998, he raised more than $100,000 for his first state Senate race --- after serving three years as chairman of the Marietta school board. This summer, while state Republican leaders were in Philadelphia for the national convention, he raised $85,000 through a concert with country music singer Travis Tritt, a Cobb native.
He's given thought to giving up his obstetrics practice, but would still offer gynecological services. It's connected to his increasing taste for politics. "I feel like I've grown politically, and I want to," Gingrey said.
Last year, in his first attempt to raise the age of licensed drivers, Gingrey obtained the endorsements of both Gov. Roy Barnes and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor --- but neither put his full weight behind the bill, which died.
Both Barnes and Taylor say they still support changing the minimum age for drivers to 17, but Gingrey wants to measure that support --- otherwise, he intends to press on with other restrictions on 16-year-old drivers. He meets with Barnes in November, and Taylor next week.
Gingrey understands that he's asking the Legislature to do something that parents could do themselves.
He has four children, now grown. Three of the four had a license soon after they turned 16, to drive to and from school.
"The (driving) conditions were just as bad 10 years ago as now, and I just
didn't have the guts to say 'No,' " he said.