Changes for Young Drivers

I thought this would be interesting to place on the Blog, it touches a topic that has been on my heart for many years. Drinking and Driving and the lives of young people, and of the culture of driving as well.

FREDERICTON - No more alcohol for the province's Class 2 drivers - at least until they're 21.

That's one of a few changes to the province's driving regulations set to take effect June 1, changes that many young drivers still don't know are coming.

"If they are going to make this rule, I think they should make it more well-known, because I don't think anyone I know of so far even knows about this," said Madie Hughes, student council co-president at Leo Hayes High School in Fredericton.

The changes, which will affect any new driver regardless of their age, are to Class 1 or and Class 2 licences.

Right now, a level 1 driver can take a road test after four months if they take a driver's education course, or 12 months if they don't. The province is changing the waiting time to eight months for Class 1 drivers. As well, they're restricted from driving between midnight and 5 a.m., and must have Class 5 licence holder in the front seat with them.

Class 2 drivers are also prohibited from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. unless it's for school or work, and can't have more than three passengers in the vehicle with them.

Both levels of licence holders will now have to keep a 0 per cent blood alcohol level until they reach 21.

"It's ridiculous to have to wait eight months," said Deidre Astle, student union co-president with Hughes. "Your last years of high school are probably your busiest years and your parents don't want to have to drive you around the whole time - I know from personal experience."

Hughes looks at it from a different perspective.

"I like to save gas, so if I can either catch a ride with one of my friends, or they could catch a ride with me, just that little bit of gas from my house to the mall and back saves a lot," she said. "If there's four extra seats or five extra seats in a car, I know some people are going to want to have friends, if they're going to a movie or something. It's easier to carpool and it saves them gas."

Similar legislation proposed in Ontario was met with strong protest and the government there eventually backed away from the changes. A Facebook group formed to protest Ontario's changes has almost 150,000 members.

But Karen Dunham, past national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, thinks New Brunswick's changes are a positive step.

"It makes sense for new drivers to have limitations, to earn it," she said. "Driving is a privilege, not a right, and that's key. By having these restrictions in place, it helps them to understand that."

Laura Sears, a supervisor with DriveWise, a driver's education company, agrees with Dunham.

"It is a little bit of an inconvenience for some people who do have to wait longer," she said. "But, if it does increase the level of experience and the students get more time behind the wheel before being allowed to drive independently, that should affect the crash rates, improve the quality of the new driver, and reduce the number of (insurance) claims that are being made as well."

Sears said new drivers statistically have a higher crash rate, especially within their first six months of driving. Having passengers in the vehicle, she said, also increases the risk.

"That's probably the number one risk factor for the new driver is the passengers. Passengers actually triple the risk."

According to statistics from MADD Canada, road crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers, and more 19-year-olds die or are seriously injured than any other age group. As well, 45 per cent of teenage drivers who are killed in road crashes have been drinking.

Still, Astle thinks the new regulations are discriminatory toward young drivers.

"Coming from today's society, I find that kids are a lot more mature than they were in the '80s, just because we have a lot more to handle," she said.