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TASK FORCE TO STUDY
GRADUATED LICENSING
FOR YOUNG DRIVERS
By SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE H. RYAN
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In an effort to reduce highway deaths among
teens, I recently appointed a Graduated Driver
Licensing Task Force to propose new standards for drivers under age 21 to obtain and keep an Illinois drivers
license. I plan to bring the task force's findings along
with my recommendations to the General Assembly
next year.
Nationally, drivers ages 19 and under account for
just 6 percent of the driving population, but they are
involved in 16 percent of all motor vehicle deaths.
The most dangerous drivers on the road are 16-year-olds, who are the most likely drivers to be ticketed
or to be involved in fatal collisions. According to a
1993 study, the single biggest cause of their crashes
was driver error, a factor in 82 percent of the incidents.
The 16-year old drivers also were more likely to
have been speeding or handling a car loaded with passengers.
The 18-member task force includes traffic safety
experts, law enforcement groups, lawmakers and the
high school student named in May as the winner of the
annual Illinois Editors' Traffic Safety essay contest
sponsored by the AAA-Chicago Motor Club. This
year's essay question was "Were You Ready to Drive
When You Were 16?" Of the high school seniors responding, 44 percent said they were not ready to drive
at that age.
Unfortunately, many young people are not getting
the preparation and experience they need to be safe
drivers, and they have a greater tendency to take risks.
As a result, we are all paying the price.
There is hardly a community in our state that has
not been hit by the tragic death of young people who
were either too inexperienced or too immature to handle the responsibility of driving.
Population experts tell us that the number of
young drivers will increase dramatically, and many of
them will be facing challenging, high-pressure driving
situations in metropolitan areas. Unless we take steps
now, this situation is only going to get worse.
I will ask the task force to consider the following
issues:
• Involving parents in giving young drivers more
experience and in supervising their driver development.
• Identifying and retraining young drivers who
have problems behind the wheel.
• Ensuring the best structure for driver education
courses.
• Limiting the availability of court supervision to
young drivers.
• Limiting the number of passengers driven by
young drivers and requiring them all to wear
seat belts.
Many of the states with graduated licensing systems have recorded declines in the number of crashes
involving young drivers. For example, Maryland has
seen a 5 percent reduction in automobile crashes and
a 10 percent decline in traffic convictions, while
California has experienced a 4 percent reduction in
crashes and a 20 percent decline in convictions.
Currently, Illinois drivers under age 18 cannot receive a drivers license without passing a driver education course offering 30 hours of classroom and six
hours of behind-the-wheel instruction.
Additionally, drivers under age 18 must have their
parents' permission to receive a license.
Senate Joint Resolution 88, creating the task force,
was introduced by State Sens. Beverly J. Fawell, R-Glen
Ellyn, and John J. Cullerton, D-Chicago, and has
passed the General Assembly. •
June 1996 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 17
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