MP Pierre Dupuch is urging lawmakers to consider the introduction of a graduated car licence system to reduce the number of crashes involving teenage drivers.
He will ask the House for a select committee to examine the benefits of such a system, including a nighttime curfew for first year drivers, and related issues.
Mr Dupuch said a significant percentage of young drivers are involved in traffic crashes and ﾖ in the U.S., for example ﾖ are twice as likely as adult drivers to be involved in a fatal crash.
‘The problems contributing to these higher crash rates include driving inexperience and lack of adequate driving skills, as well as excessive night time driving, high risk hours and risk taking behavior,’ the Independent said.
Residents of St. Margaret’s asked their MP to spearhead a drive for a graduated driver licence system after the tragic death of his constituent, Vanessa Fox.
Vanessa, 16, an honour roll student of St. Andrew’s, was one of six teenagers involved in the Aug. 30 traffic horror that left two others in critical condition. One of the victims remains in a coma at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
Vanessa’s father, Brent Fox, supported the graduated licence system as one of several measures that are necessary to improve road safety.
Mr Dupuch cited a law adopted by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and related groups, which gives young drivers more time to learn the complex skills of driving and eases them into high-risk situations.
The programme incorporates three stages ﾖ learner’s permit, provisional licence and full licence – and restricts driving hours in the early stages.
At least 31 states and the District of Columbia in the United States have signed on to the law and evaluations in some states have shown positive results. States with nighttime driving restrictions are associated with crash reductions of up to 60 percent during restricted hours.
‘The recent tragedy involving Vanessa Fox has brought to the public’s attention the critical problem involving young drivers,’ Mr Dupuch said.
He made it clear he was not casting blame on any of the children involved in the accident, or their parents.
‘We must understand that we were all 17 and 19 once and we, too, lacked adequate driving skills and experience. It is only by God’s grace that we were not involved in a serious accident,’ he said.
‘But now we are parents, as these children one day will be, and we have a duty to try and improve the system for young drivers.’
Mr Dupuch said young people are under a tremendous amount of peer pressure to stay out late and drive with inexperienced drivers.
They, in turn, pressure their parents to go out with inexperienced drivers during high-risk hours.
‘This law would help the parents say no. After all, it’s the law.’
Mr Fox supported the idea, but said any new law would be meaningless without proper enforcement.
‘This is such a critical problem on the streets now that it has to be approached with a lot of public support.
‘Also, the police have to write tickets at night. Our children are dying at night,’ Mr Fox said.
He added that the problem is not new. One of his relatives lost two teenage children in a car crash some years ago.
Mr Fox also called for the implementation of a comprehensive national driver’s awareness school programme.
