Stricter rules, penalties sought for teen drivers

Monday, Feb. 10, 2003 | 11:20 a.m.

The Teen-Age Drivers Public Forum has drafted recommendations to make teens safer drivers.

After three months of brainstorming about how to curb fatal wrecks involving teen drivers, a coalition of activists, law enforcement officials and parents will meet Wednesday to put the finishing touches on their recommendations to lawmakers in Carson City.

The draft of their plan includes 21 recommendations covering everything from more driver training to stronger punishment and more stringent requirements.

One of the group's main recommendations is that teens be required to complete a 30-hour driver's education course before being issued a learner's permit, John Phillips, one of the members of the group that developed the list, said. Now the class is required before a teen under 18 can receive a license.

"We have it backwards," Phillips said. "The kids should have to show they've successfully learned the rules of the road before we let them get behind the wheel."

Only seven of Clark County's 33 high schools offer driver's education classes during the regular school day and none includes behind-the-wheel instruction. Drivers' ed can also be taken during summer school and through distance education.

Phillips has been operating a driving school for about four years, but said his sole motivation for participating in the Teenage Drivers Public Forum was his frustration over recent fatalities involving young, inexperienced drivers in Clark County.

"I'm doing this from the heart, not for any other reason," said Phillips, who has two grown daughters teaching school in California. "I'm tired of seeing kids slaughtered on the highway."

Another recommendation targets parental involvement. Currently parents must sign an affidavit stating their child has completed 50 hours of behind-the-wheel training with a licensed driver. Too often parents fail to verify that their children have actually completed the required training, Phillips said.

Under the forum's recommendations, the affidavit would be replaced with a log book detailing the times of each practice session along with weather and traffic conditions.

Overall, vehicle-related deaths in Nevada were up 17.2 percent last year, with 371 fatalities. Nationwide auto wrecks are the leading killer of young adults between 15 and 20 years of age.

Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Jim Olschlager said he sees a direct correlation between the increase in fatalities and the elimination of driver's education from the daily curriculum in 1998. At that time the class was offered to freshmen, alternating with careers and health, Ron Moracco, a Clark County drivers ed teacher, said. A law passed in 1999 allows students who are 15 to take driver education classes. A previous law mandated that students be sophomores.

"We've taken the education out of the school, and the only way kids are getting it now is if they go out and pay for it," Olschlager said. "In the meantime we have teenagers learning their parent's bad driving habits instead of how to stay safe."

Two high-profile wrecks last spring are prime examples, Olschlager said.

In the case of a May crash involving five Las Vegas High School students, unlicensed driver Ashley Troester was speeding back to campus during the lunch hour when she lost control and struck a pole. Natasha Keeter, 17, was killed and Troester, 16, died three days later at University Medical Center. Other teens in the car were seriously injured.

An August wreck, just days after the start of the school year, claimed the life of Centennial High School junior Ryan Sneed and seriously injured his four passengers. Sneed, 16, had been issued a driver's license nine days before he ran a stop sign and slammed his Jeep Cherokee into a tractor-trailer after school.

"We know inexperience plays a significant role in these tragic deaths, and we know how to solve that part of the equation," said Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, who has attended meetings of the forum and advocates tougher drivers education laws. "This is a public safety issue for all of us, whether we have children out driving or not."

The forum is also backing initiatives to lower the legal blood alcohol level from 0.10 to 0.08, a measure that has failed in the past six legislative sessions.

New pressure from federal transportation authorities may help the initiative to finally pass, Cegavske said. Congress in 2000 voted to set the national safety standard for driver impairment at 0.08, and gave states with higher levels four years to fall in line. If Nevada fails to lower its limit during the current legislative session it could risk losing millions in federal highway funds, Cegavske said.