With new drivers emerging from sophomore, junior, and senior classes, California’s regulations for new drivers over-restrict. Although every state regulates teen drivers, California has stricter regulations for young drivers than other states. For example, teen California drivers have to wait 12 months to drive anyone else under the age of 20, compared to six months in states such as Colorado, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Another California provision is that newly licensed drivers cannot drive before the hours of 5:00 a.m. or after 11:00 p.m. In states such as Alabama, Colorado, and Georgia, drivers are allowed to drive up to 12:00 a.m. Although these rules are put in place for the safety of the new driver and others, they are too strict because they apply broad limitations without providing great safety benefits. The specific restrictions applied to drivers fail to account for individual driving habits, safety, and experience; instead, they group all drivers under the same limitations.
It’s important to recognize that teen drivers make up eight to 10 percent of fatal driving accidents, according to the National Safety Council, which explains the many rules set in place for new drivers. This is in comparison to teen drivers only making up around five percent of drivers on the road, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But, with more lenient rules in place for drivers in other states, it raises the question of if California’s rules are actually necessary. California, compared to other states, goes overboard with their driving rules for teens because it prioritizes risk-prevention over individual responsibility. Just because a driver recently got their license does not mean that they will engage in irresponsible driving practices.
When going through the process of getting a license, new drivers have to complete 50 hours of driving practice which already ensures that they are relatively experienced when it comes to real world driving situations. California’s restriction on driving others under 20 for a year after they received their license unfairly limits teen’s independence compared to other states. This conflicts with other responsibilities such as driving siblings or friends to work or school. Banning passengers disregards how many teens have to drive siblings or peers. “Waiting a year to drive other people (under 20) is also really just not needed, you're constantly driving with your parents, or whoever's over 20 with a license,” Meghan Nguyen, a junior at BHS, said.
At 16, teens are able to get a salary, in some cases help support their family, and often manage a busy school and/or extracurricular schedule. Teens should be allowed to have more autonomy regarding their driving if they have so many other responsibilities. “I think getting your license is a great step (for) moving towards independence, but then it just feels so terrible when you realize that you can legally only drive yourself,” Zadie Maness, a junior at BHS, said. The driving restrictions placed on teens is inconsistent with the adult-like responsibilities that are placed upon them. Independence is not just limited to age, it connects to how teens carry out responsibilities. Broad limitations often don’t align individually with the driver. “I know myself and many other teen drivers are good drivers and reliable,” Maness said.
While teen driver safety is an important issue, California overrestricts teen drivers. Rather than applying strict rules, California should give teens more autonomy, which would correlate with the independence and school, work, or family related responsibilities that teens already have on a day to day basis, creating more uniform, appropriate laws state-to-state.