Published: April 11, 2009 06:11 pm         

TRIBUNE-STAR EDITORIAL: Legislation would help make teens better drivers

Cell phone ban, other provisions make sense

TERRE HAUTE — “I dropped my car into a ditch long enough to get him by me. It’s quite unnerving to see a [vehicle] coming right at you. I’m glad that ditch was long enough to handle it.”

— Ann Waymire



Waymire was lucky. She managed to avoid a collision with the Jeep that was speeding toward her on Indiana 47 in her lane. A vehicle behind her on that two-lane highway near Turkey Run State Park in northern Parke County collided with the Jeep that drove her off the road.

It was a fatal impact. The crash killed 26-year-old Chad Simmons of Crawfordsville, a passenger in the trailing vehicle. Police investigators say the driver of the trailing vehicle, 22-year-old Kevin Boicourt of Darlington, tried desperately but unsuccessfully to dodge the oncoming Jeep. Boicourt was critically injured.

Every fatal crash brings with it a series of tragic circumstances. But what troubles police so much about last week’s crash is how easily it could have been avoided.

Police believe the crash occurred because the Jeep’s driver, 17-year-old F.N. Lutz III of West Lafayette, swerved into the wrong lane of Indiana 47 because he became distracted from the roadway as he was reaching for his cell phone. Lutz was not seriously injured.

Indiana highways have become significantly safer in recent years, and the number of traffic deaths is at their lowest point in decades. The reasons for that are many, including safer vehicles, enforcement of stricter seat-belt and child-restraint laws, enforcement of stricter standards for impaired driving, even a decline in vehicular traffic because of a struggling economy.

But there is room for progress. Consider this startling statistic from a 2006 report from the Governor’s Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving: Only 6 percent of Indiana drivers are between 16 and 20 years old, yet they account for 17 percent of all fatal single-vehicle crashes.

Is there a way to bring that statistic down? Many experts on traffic safety think so, and they are lobbying state lawmakers to take action.

A common-sense measure still alive in the Indiana General Assembly would place a series of new restrictions on young drivers, including one that makes it illegal for anyone under age 18 to use a cell phone while driving for anything other than a 911 call.

Other provisions including an increased number of hours of supervised practice with a learner’s permit, a higher minimum age for obtaining a learner’s permit and, ultimately, a driver’s license,

While it would be wise to resist any temptation to over-legislate personal behavior, it makes sense to take steps to help teens be better drivers. With statistics demonstrating that teen drivers are responsible for more than their fair share of crashes and traffic citations, it is prudent for the Legislature to give these matters its attention.

Passing the current bill won’t prevent fatal crashes such as the one last week in Parke County, but it will address some of the issues that cause them and will, hopefully, reduce their frequency in the future.