After Deaths, Area Looks For Fix for Teen Drivers

A spate of fatal accidents in late 2004, several of them in Montgomery County, spurred the Maryland legislature to add the nighttime curfew and forbid teen drivers from carrying passengers younger than 18 who are not immediate family members during their first five months of driving, unless an adult is in the car. Teens are also barred from using cellphones behind the wheel in their first two years of driving.

Virginia banned cellphone use by drivers under 18 this year and has a curfew and passenger restrictions in place. The District does not permit drivers of any age to use handheld cellphones while driving.

Maryland State Highway Administrator Neil Pederson said that the preliminary data on the latest laws were promising. Even before they took effect, teenage road fatalities were down by 6 percent between 2001 and 2005, according to state figures.

Moe said it was up to the legislature to change the law. But as a traffic safety expert, he listed three things he would like to see added to Maryland's program: a longer period during which beginners cannot drive with underage friends in the car; a 10 p.m. start to the nighttime driving curfew instead of midnight; and Georgia-style punishments for kids caught speeding or driving recklessly.

Those punishments proved controversial as soon as young Georgia drivers began losing their right to drive, said Skipper, the former legislator. He heard complaints from parents, some of whom had been waiting for years to be given a break from driving their kids. But attempts to overturn or weaken the law in subsequent years failed as the number of teen fatalities dropped.

"Every year, we're saving the equivalent of a couple of glee clubs," Kellerman said. "That shut those efforts down very quickly."

Like their Georgia counterparts a decade ago, Maryland lawmakers said their constituents are clamoring for change.

"It's all I'm hearing about right now," said Sen. Roy P. Dyson, a Southern Maryland Democrat from St. Mary's County who has long pushed for more restrictions on young Maryland drivers. He expects a range of proposals to come up in the next session, including giving police authority to pull over a car if they suspect there are too many underage passengers with a young driver. Now, officers can check for such license infractions only after they stop a driver for other reasons.

Dyson doesn't see much support for his plan to protect young drivers: Make them wait longer to get their licenses.

"I would vote tomorrow to raise the driving age to 18," he said. "When I say that to a classroom full of kids, you can hear a pin drop."