It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your teen driver is?

After a busy day of tutoring autistic children and singing in her school choir, 17-year-old Nicole Hartmann rushes home, hoping to evade the police.

Nicole's no criminal, but she feels like one if she's out after 10 p.m. on a school night.

Under a new state law that took effect this year, 16- and 17-year-olds are banned from driving after 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and after 11 on Fridays and Saturdays.

There are exemptions for driving home from work, school and religious activities, but Nicole's mother, Stacey, wasn't sure about that and didn't want to take a chance.

"She'll have practice till 9:30 or 10 and then she's rushing home," Hartmann said. "If her friends want to get together, even on Friday night, they can't stay out late."

Doesn't the law make it safer for kids? "If they're rushing home," Hartmann says, "probably not."

Still, aware of the law's intent to reduce traffic fatalities, Hartmann wouldn't change it. But her mixed feelings about the graduated driver's license situation in Illinois reflect confusion and resentment of the law among teens who have to go home earlier and parents sometimes forced to drive them.

Experts say the law will save lives among new drivers, for whom traffic crashes are the leading cause of death.

As a result of the new law, Illinois has one of the toughest graduated driver's license laws in the country, and researchers predict it will decrease crash deaths among teenagers by 38 percent.

One of those teens presumably protected by the law is Susan Redmond's daughter, who will turn 18 in May. Redmond can't wait.

Her daughter baby-sits, and if she's out past 10, she either has the parents who hired her drive her home to Lombard, or she has her mother pick her up -- sometimes at 1 in the morning if the parents are returning from a wedding.

Even with the exemption from work, her daughter doesn't want police calling parents late at night to check on what she was doing, for fear families won't want her back.

Still, Redmond says, "If a little inconvenience with my daughter makes one kid safer, then it's OK."

Other parents voice stronger distaste for the law.

Mike Goba of Lombard, a father of four -- three of whom are in their teens -- considers the law a way for politicians to look concerned while discriminating against responsible teenagers, rather than focusing on the few who get into serious accidents.

"My issue is their freedom and liberty," he said. "I think it's bigoted because you're lumping every single kid from now to eternity as being a moron."

Many students, predictably, grouse about the new restrictions.

Seventeen-year-olds, in particular, had a taste of freedom before it was snatched away. Because curfew laws only apply to those 16 or younger, 17-year-olds could drive late in December -- but not as of Jan. 1.

So a 17-year-old can be out with friends -- as long as he's not behind the wheel. Those who turn 18 first among their friends end up doing taxi service.

Students at Buffalo Grove High School say many teens routinely violate the night-time driving restrictions.

"They just stay out anyway," 17-year-old Sarah Hampton said. "It's so early. I can't even see a 9 o'clock movie."

Other students said their parents won't let them get away with flaunting the law.

"My social life has gone down the drain," 16-year-old Ryan Domzalski said. "I have to be home. It's not worth getting your license revoked."

"A lot of my friends pretend to try to get home earlier, but they don't," 17-year-old Brittany Wasserman said. If they don't make it in time, "They just have to break the rules."

Some students think police will have a hard time enforcing the law.

In DuPage County, for instance, the state's attorney's office has only handled five cases of alleged violations.

Some municipalities, such as Buffalo Grove, have not yet issued a ticket for violating the nighttime driving restriction.

That's not for lack of trying, traffic Sgt. Scott Kristiansen said. It's difficult for police to enforce the law just by seeing teenagers drive by, because it's impossible to tell their exact age just by looking.

If police stop a teen driver for another violation, they will check the driver's age. If the driver claims to be on the way home from work or school, the officer will make a call to check with the school or employer, the following day if necessary.

Because many parents and teens are confused about the law, its exemptions and how it differs from general curfew, Kristiansen said police are trying to educate them through efforts like the "You're driving me crazy" program at Stevenson High School.

While some municipalities might not put as much emphasis on traffic laws, Kristiansen maintained that enforcing the new law will save lives, despite any minor inconveniences.

"Like the speed limit, or any law, if you choose to violate it, you could say everybody's doing it," he said, "but you can't complain if an officer chooses to issue a ticket for it."

Exemptions to new law

The nighttime teen driving cutoff, which bans 16- and 17-year-olds from driving after 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, has exemptions. Teens can drive after-hours if they are:

accompanied by a parent or guardian.

on an errand for a parent or guardian.

heading into or out of state.

going to or returning from "an employment activity."

in an emergency.

going to or from "an official school, religious or other recreational activity supervised by adults and sponsored by a government or governmental agency, a civic organization, or another similar entity …"

exercising First Amendment rights such as freedom of religion.

married or emancipated.

Police note that for local trips, drivers must be heading directly to or from the event in question, so stopping at IHOP on the way home is not allowed. And curfew laws are separate and still apply.

But wait, there's more

Curtailing late-night driving is just one part of Illinois' new rules for teen drivers.

• Learner's permit phase extended to nine months from three.

• Curfew for 16- and 17-year-old drivers moved to 10 p.m. weekdays, 11 p.m. weekends.

• New driver can have only one unrelated teenage passenger during first year with license. Had been first six months. Extra passengers are ticketed along with driver in case of a violation.

• Driver younger than 18 must appear in court with parent or guardian to get court supervision for a ticket. Drivers younger than 21 must attend traffic school to get court supervision.

• As of July 1, student drivers must complete at least six hours of on-the-street driving with teacher. Driving simulators are no longer a valid substitute.

• Graduated-licensing system will require teens to earn their way from one stage to the next. Tickets and other violations will hinder ability to advance beyond the initial restrictions.

Source: Illinois Secretary of State