Group to examine state’s driving age

BOISE – Idaho has some of the youngest drivers in the nation. And those drivers, who can get a license when they turn 15, face few restrictions.

Now a coalition of insurers and public safety officials is forming to talk about changing the rules regarding seat belts, nighttime driving and passengers, as other states have done.

“It’s part of the rural Idaho shtick, this early age for being able to drive,” said Phil Barber, a lobbyist for the Idaho Council for the American Insurance Association. But it’s been a few years since policymakers looked at the issue, and lately most other states have put more restrictions on their young drivers than Idaho has, Barber said.

“We can do better now,” he said.

While many states allow drivers to obtain a restricted license at age 15, Idaho is one of only a few that allows 14-year-olds to get behind the wheel, according to the Allstate Foundation, which published a report on teenagers and driving last year. Youths who are 14½ can apply for a provisional license, which entitles them to take driver’s education and drive with an adult. When they turn 15, they can take a test. If they pass, they receive a license that carries no restrictions.

Other states that allow very young drivers, such as Alaska, North Dakota and Kansas, are rural, like Idaho, with a long tradition of having young people help out behind the wheel on farms. That tradition has hindered efforts to restrict young drivers in Idaho, lawmakers and policymakers say.

“I think there’s always been a belief in the agricultural areas, ‘Don’t check the age of the kids driving the farm trucks,’ ” said Rep. Mike Mitchell, D-Lewiston.

Frank Muir, president and chief executive officer of the Idaho Potato Commission, said he didn’t think the farmers he represents would have a big problem with more restrictions on young drivers.

“You don’t really need all the city kids driving at 14,” Muir said. The “changes need to make sure that young people are still able to help. But that doesn’t mean that every youth in Idaho needs to be driving at a young age.”

The coalition that Barber belongs to has met a few times and hasn’t decided what proposals to present to the Legislature next year. The group might examine the idea of reducing the number of passengers that new drivers can have with them, to reduce distractions.

“When we look at the data now, it’s fairly clear that in collisions, quite often teens have multiple passengers in the car,” said Dave Carlson, of AAA, who is participating in the effort.

The group might also look at making failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense – one for which police can stop a vehicle – rather than a secondary offense, for which police can only ticket if they stopped the vehicle for another reason. And it will probably examine limiting nighttime driving, as other states do, said Josephine O’Connor, youthful driver program coordinator at the Idaho Department of Transportation. It also might consider limiting teen drivers’ cell phone use.

Nobody has talked about raising Idaho’s driver age, but Carlson said he thought it would be a good idea to extend the four-month probationary period, as other states have done. Idaho requires would-be drivers to wait until they are at least 14½ to take a four-month driver’s education course. If they pass it, they can obtain a full license at 15.

Teenage drivers are involved in a disproportionately high number of crashes in Idaho and elsewhere, O’Connor said. From 2000 through 2004, 257 drivers in that age group were killed in Idaho. In 2004, youthful drivers were more likely than other drivers to be involved in a crash that involved aggressive driving such as running a stop sign or driving too fast, she said. Licensed drivers ages 15 to 19 only make up 7 percent of Idaho’s driving population, but they’re involved in a quarter of all crashes.

The rate of young driver fatalities in Idaho is about average, she added. But “what does happen in Idaho and in states that don’t have primary seat belt laws is we see a much higher percentage of kids being ejected from the vehicle and killed because they’re not buckled up,” she said. “That’s a tragedy that Idaho stands out for, unfortunately.”

Rep. Rich Wills, R-Glenns Ferry and a former state trooper, said he would hesitate to endorse a proposal for limiting youthful drivers if it has an impact on farmers. “We’re a rural state; we still are,” he said.

But Muir, of the Potato Commission, said he thinks farmers would accept some changes.

“Farmers are responsible people. They want to make sure the youth driving on the streets of Idaho are safe,” said Muir, who has a 14-year-old child. “If there are some modifications that would be fair to farmers, I’m sure they would be willing to consider them.”