Training Wheels

By Eugenie Allen

Last summer Joanna Eide, who lives in a town just south of Seattle, did what many Americans do the instant they turn 16: she got a driver's license. But if a bill before its legislature passes as expected, Washington will soon join the growing number of states that require "graduated licenses" for drivers who are not yet 18. Under the proposed law, Washington teens could get a learner's permit at 15 and could earn an intermediate driver's license at 16--both with lots of strings at- tached. But in the meantime, at the cozy, split-level home that Joanna shares with her family, the bill's provisions are already in effect. The legislation's sponsor, state senator Tracey Eide, is Joanna's mother.

Senator Eide got interested in graduated driver's licenses last year, when she noticed an outbreak of traffic citations and accidents among Joanna's friends who were new drivers. Even Joanna, an honor student and a responsible kid, was ticketed within two weeks of getting her license. Joanna and her crowd are guilty of nothing more than youth and inexperience--but that can be a dangerous combination behind the wheel. Eide, 45, worked at a clerical job in a hospital emergency room in the 1970s and witnessed a steady stream of car-crash victims. Citing dramatic reductions in teen auto accidents in Florida, one of the first of 37 states to adopt some form of graduated licensing, she boasts, "This bill comes with a guarantee to save lives."

The measure would restrict when, where and with whom teens can drive--all of which are known to affect accident rates. For the first six months that they hold an intermediate license, Washington teens wouldn't be able to drive in the risky hours between midnight and 5 a.m. unless the trip was necessary for school or work. And they couldn't have any passengers under age 21 except for family members. If they made it to the six-month mark with no moving traffic violations, they could drive anytime with up to three passengers, "so they can double date," Eide says, laughing. All intermediate drivers must log 50 hours of supervised driving, 10 of them at night. (Eide's laid-back husband is the instructor of choice, she says, "because I'm always hanging onto the dash by my fingernails.")

This year, according to the AAA, some 6,000 teens will be killed in crashes of cars driven by teens; an additional 600,000 teens will be injured. Drunk driving contributes to fewer teen accidents these days, thanks to zero-tolerance laws and higher alcohol-purchase ages. By addressing the far more common culprit of driver error, graduated-licensing programs should further reduce the teen-driving toll.

But why wait? You can institute your own graduated-license program by using ideas you'll find at driverzed.org highwaysafety.org and dot.gov You can get spies around town to report to you on your teen's driving habits, and take away the keys if you don't like what you hear. In virtually every state, parents must give written permission for their minor children to have learner's permits and driver's licenses; likewise, parents can withdraw that permission via the DMV, no questions asked.

Senator Eide hasn't gone that route yet, although Joanna did have a minor traffic accident earlier this month. (No one was hurt, but her father was driving right behind her.) So until she gets more driver's ed, Joanna is living under a new law: if she can't walk, she can catch a ride with her dad--or with her state senator.

See our website at time.com/personal for more information about teen driving and graduated driver's licenses