I had put very little thought into the restrictions on provisional licenses until days after I received my own.
From there, I realized that the restrictions on teen drivers do little good, as they are poorly enforced and have very few consequences for disobeying them.
After driving to school on my own and bragging to nearly everybody that I passed in the hallways, my friends began pressuring me to give them rides home or take them to 7/11 to get snacks. At first I held strong; I would not break the law. But after a few weeks, I gave in like so many others who can be seen driving away at lunch and after school with their friends.
As time passed, and I continued to drive my friends nearly everywhere I went, nothing happened. Now that I think of it, I haven’t heard that any students currently attending the school have been caught breaking the terms of the restrictions.
In fact, the only way a student could receive the almost nonexistent fine is to void a different traffic violation. This is because carrying underage passengers as a provisional driver is classified as a secondary offense. If the driver gets caught breaking the restrictions of their license, he or she will only be fined $35 for the first offense and $50 for following offenses, along with possible community service.
Very few students at this school give the restrictions any respect. Instead of keeping students safe, this law may create a common disregard for traffic laws, creating a culture in which breaking laws is sometimes permissible.
According to the National Safety Council, crash fatalities among 18-year-olds have increased by 24% since the law has been put in place. This can only be a result of the already flawed law discouraging young drivers from getting their license. This is because the law targets age instead of experience and simply pushes the problem back a couple of years.
This should be perceived as an immediate flaw; however in this case the lives of children are put in front of those of “adults.” According to the New York Times, the number of 16-year-olds who hold drivers licenses dropped from around 50% to less than 33% in the period after the law was introduced.
There are a number of benefits to be gained from abolishing this law. Most importantly, teens would be allowed to drive their friends and peers. Instead of learning to drive distracted as 18-year-olds, younger drivers can gain the same experience in familiar areas, under parental supervision. In addition, students could easily carpool to school events, putting less stress on busy parents and Southern California’s air quality.