Jeff Yu

editors note: Today, Jeff Yu is in residency for pediatrics.  Kid has done very well!

When Six Months Becomes a Year

August 8, 2005 was one of the best days of my life. It was the day that I received my driver license. As a minor, getting a license had not been easy. In the process, I experienced thirty hours of classroom instruction, six hours behind-the-wheel training, a traffic laws test, a vision test, giving a thumbprint, having a picture taken, fifty hours of practice with a permit, applications, appointments, and the infamous driving test itself. Being under the age of 18 meant that I would receive a “provisional” license, with the following restrictions:

No transporting passengers under 20 years of age at any time, for the first six months.

No driving between midnight and 5 AM for the first twelve months.

Or so I thought. According to my calculation, February 8, 2006 would be my six-month checkpoint. So during those first six months, I told the countless people asking me for a ride that they would have to wait until after February 8th. Fast forward a couple of months to February 1st. A friend mentions that the driving restrictions have changed. I rush to a computer and go to the DMV website and see:

Effective January 1, 2006, a new law will increase driving restrictions for persons under the age of 18:

No transporting passengers under 20 years of age at any time, for the first twelve months.

No driving between 11 PM and 5AM for the first twelve months.

*Sigh* I had only been a week away from having held my license for six months! Why would the DMV change the restrictions now of all times? To answer this question, one must consider why any restrictions were made in the first place.

California was one of the first states to implement a graduated drivers licensing law. The provisional license restrictions exist so that teen drivers will have more experience driving on their own before driving others or driving late at night. Indeed, this system helped significantly reduce the number of teen driving accidents. However, the chance of a teenage driver getting into a car crash remains very high even today.

Officials hope that the new, stricter restrictions will further prevent teenage automobile fatalities. Although I respect that legislators are looking out for the safety of teens and potential crash victims, the restriction extension is not without flaws. Enforcing the new law presents some peculiar situations.

Those who had been driving minors prior to the change in legislation suddenly had to stop. Although they fulfilled the six month waiting period before, the new restrictions force them to take a break from driving minors for a second six month period. In effect, the DMV seems to be saying, “Sorry! Pretend that we never said you could drive others&what you had before was just a temporary privilege.”

Furthermore, the new driving restrictions fail to address the fact that 17-and-a-half year olds can still get a permit without the thirty hours of classroom instruction or six hours behind-the-wheel. These older individuals receive their licenses on their 18th birthdays, and as 18-year-olds, none of the provisional driving restrictions apply to them. They can immediately begin driving at 2 AM and transporting little kids. Sure, I understand that these people are “adults” by law, but I don’t see why they can do things that those just a year or two younger with potentially twice as much driving experience are prohibited from doing. After all, eighteen year-old drivers are still teen drivers.

Ultimately, it should be the parent/guardian’s responsibility to decide when his/her child is mature enough for a driver license. Driving is a huge responsibility, and not everyone is prepared for the task at the same age. Parents should be the ones regulating, not necessarily the DMV. After all, I know many people that violate the DMV restrictions anyway, regardless of what the laws actually say. On the other hand, I also know students whose parents strictly forbid them from transporting other young people or riding in cars driven by teen drivers. Believe it or not, when parents are serious about driving and spend the time to discuss the topic with their kids, teens generally listen and respect their parents’ wishes. Most importantly, if a teenager is truly not ready to drive, his or her parent should never agree to sign the forms in the first place. Without parental approval, there is no way a minor can get a license. With something like driving, parents know what is best for their children.

Could the extension of provisional driving restrictions now represent a step towards making 18 the minimum age for acquiring a driver license in the future? So far, the widely-believed rumor that those born in 1990 or after cannot get their licenses until they turn 18 has failed to materialize as actual law. But don’t hold your breath.