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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, February 21, 2005

Bills target traffic safety

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Thirteen-year-old Ryan Baptiste doesn't want to hear anything about having to wait even longer to get his driver's license.

Traffic safety measures at the Legislature

What's next: All of the bills have been passed by Senate and House transportation committees and referred to their respective judiciary committees.

Proposal: Graduated driver's licenses would create a three-stage process for teenagers to gain their driving privileges.

What it means to you: Teenagers under 17 would be required to have a new "provisional" license requiring them to have a parent or guardian in the car at night and limit the number of unrelated young people in the car. Exceptions would be made for late-night school events or students driving to or from work.

Why they're doing it: To reduce the number of crashes involving young drivers.

Proposal: Children between the ages of 4 and 7 would be required to be in a booster seat when riding in automobiles.

What it means to you: Parents would be required to install and use the booster seats whenever the children are in the car. Several programs are available to offset the cost of the seats for those who can't afford them.

Why they're doing it: To protect children who are too big for car seats but can't yet safely use seat belts.

Proposal: To suspend the driver's licenses for at least 90 days of anyone under 21 years of age who is caught purchasing or possessing alcohol.

What it means to you: Youths would could lose the freedom that a driver's license provides if they are caught drinking, even if a car isn't involved in the offense.

Why they're doing it: To reinforce the no-drinking-and-driving idea among young people.

Proposal: Require drivers to come to a full stop when they approach a crosswalk being used by a pedestrian.

What it means to you: Fines of up to $100 for a first offense could be levied against those who violate the proposed law.

Why they're doing it: To cut down on Hawai'i's rate of pedestrian accidents, which is among the highest in the nation.

"No way. It's already long enough," he said. "That would be really unfair."

Unfair or not, highway safety advocates say passing a bill to delay a teenager's full licensing privileges until age 17 is among the top measures they seek to save lives and prevent injuries.

Hawai'i is one of 18 states that have not implemented a full, three-stage graduated license system, an idea that advocates say dramatically cuts down on crashes by young drivers. Last year, a similar proposal died at the last-minute in a legislative conference committee.

"Hopefully, this is the year," said Connie Abram, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"That's the one that's on everybody's radar," said Eric Tash, manager of the injury-prevention program at the state Health Department.

Other traffic-safety bills given a reasonable chance of passing include those that would require car booster seats for children between ages 4 and 7; suspend the driver's license of anyone under 21 caught drinking — even if a car wasn't involved; and do more to protect pedestrians in crosswalks.

The graduated driver's license bills approved by the House and Senate transportation committees this year would create a new "provisional" class of driver's license for young people who have had a learner's permit for six months but are not yet 17 years old.

Now teens qualify for a learner's permit at 15ý, and a full license at 16; under the legislation they would have to be at least 17 to be eligible for a full license.

Holders of the provisional license would be barred from driving late at night unless accompanied by a parent or guardian and would be limited to the number of unrelated young people they could have in the car at any time. Exceptions would be made for late-night school events or students driving to or from work.

Baptiste, a student at the University Lab School, thinks the extra waiting period isn't necessary.

"They already make you go through driver's education and stuff," he said. "I think that's enough."

However, studies from areas that have enacted similar laws show significant decreases in the number of accidents involving young drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. In California, Michigan, and Pennsylvania crash rates among 16-year-olds dropped about 25 percent in the years after graduated licenses were established.

"It makes sense," said Meighan Bluford, a 19-year-old student at the University of Hawai'i. "I don't think most 16-year-olds are mature enough to drive. This gives them more supervised time to learn."

The booster-seat bill, which has been introduced at the Legislature for at least four years, is designed to close a gap in laws to protect young passengers in vehicles, Tash said.

"There's a law that children 3 and under have to be in a car seat, and there's another law that youth under 18 have to be in seat belt in the back seat," he said. "But children in the 4 to 7 group are sometimes too big for a car seat and not big enough to safely use the seat belt. Those are the ones we're trying to help."

Twenty-six states have similar booster-seat laws, he said.

Honolulu Police Sgt. Robert Lung said highway safety measures often have to be heard year after year before becoming law.

"A lot of them pass easily through the transportation committees, but run into trouble when they get to the judiciary or finance committees," he said. "In the end, you might only end up with one or two changes each year."

Two new traffic-safety bills, introduced with the support of Gov. Linda Lingle, are drawing unusual attention this year, according to safety advocates.

One is a "use-and-lose" proposal that would suspend for 90 days the driver's license of anyone under 21 who is caught purchasing or in possession of alcohol, even if the offense is unrelated to driving. For those who don't have a license, 90 days would be added to their waiting period.

Supporters say the bill aims to get a teenager's attention by dealing with something they care about deeply: the freedom to drive.

"Underage drinking is a problem in Hawai'i and in the nation," said Capt. Jose Gaytan, of the Honolulu Police Department's Traffic Division. "This bill will be a deterrent to those underage persons who are contemplating drinking by making them suffer the loss of driving privileges."

University of Hawai'i student Brandon Lam, 20, thinks the bill penalizes people for the wrong reasons.

"It seems like the two things are unrelated. If a person is drinking in a park or a party, they shouldn't try to take his driver's license away just for that," he said. "It makes more sense for them to set up roadblocks to catch those who are drinking and driving. They should think more about prevention than punishment."

Bluford, though, thought it was a good idea.

"There's a lot of underage drinking going on," she said. "They do it just because they can. If you think you might lose your license, you might think twice about doing it."

Another first-year bill would require drivers on undivided streets to stop as soon as a person enters the crosswalk and wait until the person is safely on the opposite curb before moving on. On a divided street, such as Vineyard Boulevard, the driver on the pedestrian side of the road would have to stop and wait until the pedestrian reaches the median.

The bill was introduced because Hawai'i has one of the highest pedestrian accident rates in the country, state Transportation officials said.

"I think it's getting a lot of attention because it has the governor's backing," Tash said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5460.