Young drivers' tough new rules seen as cutting deaths by 30%

Limit on passengers most important element in proposed legislation, motorist group says

Nov 19, 2008

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Staff Reporter

Tough new regulations for young drivers should reduce traffic fatalities by 30 per cent, says Peter Christianson, president of Young Drivers of Canada.

"Since graduated licensing, there's been a huge reduction in accidents. They've been able to cut the number of fatalities by 30 per cent," he said. "With these (new) changes they should be able to obtain another 30 per cent."

Strict new regulations for drivers under the age of 22 were tabled at Queen's Park yesterday. Among the proposed measures: a zero blood-alcohol limit for drivers 21 and under, tough penalties for new drivers caught speeding, and a one-teenage- passenger limit for drivers between 16 and 19.

The passenger restrictions have drawn sharp criticism from some opposition members and the province's youth, particularly over concerns it could inadvertently impede designated drivers from getting friends home safely.

To this, Christianson says he doesn't believe a logical police officer would hassle someone doing the right thing.

"I can't imagine a police officer doing much about it if they understand it's a Good Samaritan doing what they can to get people home. There has to be some common sense," he said.

And while the new regulation might pose some inconvenience for young drivers, especially in rural and northern Ontario, Christianson says that of all the proposed changes, the passenger limit is the most important.

Research has shown that the brain continues to develop until the age of 25, so he says, young drivers are incapable of the same level of concentration as older drivers.

A recent study commissioned by Young Drivers, found that teen drivers loaded with distractions are ticking time bombs on the road. The study measured the cognitive abilities — hand-eye co-ordination, short-term memory, reaction time, etc. — in about 5,800 young drivers. The results show that young drivers typically scored 2 out of 5 under "divided attention," he said.

"Young people with developing cognitive abilities simply cannot handle distractions whatsoever. (A car full of teenagers) is a huge distraction. Drivers at a young age are going to turn to their friends and laugh when something is said, or if they're arguing."

Since the province introduced graduated licensing in April 1994, the number of teen drivers involved in accidents has been cut in half.

In 1993, nearly 11 per cent of young drivers were crashing their vehicles every year.

By 1995, that number had fallen to 8 per cent.

And according to the ministry of transportation's most recent statistics, from 2005, that figure has fallen to just below 6 per cent.

Overall, the Ontario graduated licence program "is associated with significant reductions in fatal, injury, property-damage only, and total collisions among drivers aged 16-19, especially among 16-year-old drivers of passenger vehicles," said Emna Dhahak, a ministry spokesperson. "The number of driver fatalities in the age category 16-19, between 1993 and 2005 decreased by 39 per cent."

The statistics are clear, said Don Forgeron, Ontario's vice-president with the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

"Often we get into debates about convenience and inconvenience. We seem to have forgotten that graduated licensing is a program designed to help our new drivers become good, safe drivers," he said. "If I had to choose, I'd go for keeping kids alive."

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