A law mandating a three-step process for granting licenses to drivers
under the age of 18 officially took effect on Jan. 1, a sign, some say,
that Rhode Island is catching up with the national efforts to make roads
safer.
With this new legislative session, however, state Rep. Richard Fleury,
R-West Warwick, said he plans to propose changes that would tie high
school students’ academic standing to their ability to become an
unrestricted driver at an earlier stage. He also proposed prohibiting
high school dropouts from getting a license until they turn 18, unless
there are extenuating circumstances.
Fleury said such changes could empower teachers and parents to get
students to hit the books, but some people who lobbied for the graduated
licensing law said his proposal could defeat its purpose.
Fleury, who is an attorney, voted in favor of the graduated drivers
license law. But, he said, the proposed changes might assuage some
opponents.
The law now mandates teens drive with a learner’s permit for at least
six months, instead of three, and that they get a provisional license
after that. Provisional drivers cannot drive between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.,
unless there is an adult supervisor or it’s work related. Teen drivers
cannot earn a full-fledged license until they are 17-and-a-half.
It also states that passengers in a teen driver’s vehicle must wear
seat belts.
About 18 states so far have passed such legislation, according to
state Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, D-Warwick, who first introduced the
graduated drivers license bill in 1995.
Opponents, McNamara said, thought “in some way this is meant to punish
young drivers, which it is not. The sole intention is to give young
drivers more supervised experience behind the wheel.
“I think it’s a noble idea to curb the dropout rate; however, it’s one
we’ve debated in the past and has not received much support.”
McNamara, a former high school teacher and driving instructor, also
disagreed with the proposal to allow students with good grades to skip a
step in the process.
“I believe that if you look at the statistics and the grades of the 26
or so of the teen deaths that occurred in the state of Rhode Island last
year you would see that their grade scores were equally distributed
among honor students and lower achievers,” McNamara said.
Fleury said he had not filed the bill and was planning to lobby
support once this year’s legislative session begins. The idea came from
a constituent, he said.
“The license is a powerful aphrodisiac at that age,” he added.
Fleury said he believes credits given by insurance companies to
students and parents of students with good grades provide anecdotal
support for his plan.
But some area insurance executives disagreed.
“The whole idea behind graduated licensing is to allow students to get
actual driving experience at non-hazardous times,” said Kenneth Nails,
general counsel and legislative representative for Amica Mutual
Insurance Co. of Lincoln. “They still need the same kind of safe driving
experience that others need, good students or not.”
Amica has given good student driver credits for about 15 years, Nails
said. The hope, he added, is that such students are “a little more
responsible” and are driving less because they’re studying.
“We haven’t found any statistical data which will confirm that good
students are better drivers, or drive less than others. In fact it’s
more of a competitive thing, some (insurance companies) have started
doing it and we have been forced on a competitive basis to do it,” he
said.
Mary Clare Decker, vice president and general counsel for Providence
Washington Insurance Co, said “As an officer (of the company) and a
mother of three daughters, I think it’s a great opportunity to build
strong habits.”
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Insurance companies have been working to strengthen licensing
requirements around the country, particularly since the number of
highway fatalities peaked at about 70,000 four year ago, Nails said.
That figure decreased to 40,000 deaths last year, he added.
