Minimum Driving Age To Stay At 14

Seven years after a wrenching debate over raising Idaho’s minimum driving age from 14 to 15, the state Senate has refused to reopen the issue.

On a 19-16 vote Thursday, the Senate killed legislation allowing 14-year-olds to get driver’s licenses they could use during the day and as long as a parent or guardian was in the passenger seat.

Supporters, mainly from rural districts, claimed it would allow teenagers who can take driver’s education at 14 stay in practice while they wait for their 15th birthdays to arrive so they can get their licenses. They also argued that parents, not the state, should be allowed to decide when their children get their licenses.

But opponents argued that while age is not necessarily the measure of maturity, it is one of the few there is and “15 is better than 14.”

“We ought to leave it alone,” Senate President Pro Tem Jerry Twiggs of Blackfoot said. “We’re not getting any complaints that I know of right now.” , DataTimes