Too soon to raise driving age, some teachers say

Some teen drivers just love to speed.

"We call them NASCAR kids," said Tim Lazzarotto, a driving teacher at Prospect High School. "The pedal goes right to the metal. I just tell them, 'Hey, you have to slow down.'"

Speeding is just one mistake teen drivers make. They also roll though stop signs, forget to use turn signals and don't anticipate driving emergencies. Despite these faults, withholding drivers licenses from teens until they are 18 years old isn't a great idea, according to several local teachers of drivers education. On Tuesday, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a report saying licensing at later ages would substantially reduce crashes involving teen drivers. Medical experts say 18-year-olds are much more mature than 16-year-olds and that it's an idea worth considering.

But teachers who spend their days reminding teens to signal often and brake early disagree.

Teens may be more mature at 18 years old, but driving skills are based more on practice than age, Lazzarotto said.

"It's really the parents' call," he said. "It all boils down to how much parents practice with their kids. We have six hours of behind-the-wheel teaching. Parents are the ones driving with kids at night and most of the time."

Lazzarotto said the recent Illinois driving reforms are reducing teen accidents and making kids safer. In recent years, the state has enacted a graduated licensing system that phases in full driving privileges for teen drivers. The state also restricts when teens can drive and requires more teaching time behind the wheel.

The full impact of these reforms hasn't been felt yet, said John Fiore, who is the chair of the driver's education department at Naperville North High School. "Let's see how these new laws impact student driving," Fiore said. "Then, if as a state we aren't satisfied, we can rethink the driving age."

Maybe it's the new rules, but drivers education isn't the blow off class it used to be. Teens and parents take it much more seriously today, said Steve Polley, an Elk Grove High School driving teacher.

"I know parents who've waited eight or 10 months to take their teen to get a drivers license because they just don't think their kid is ready," Polley said. "We tell our students when you drive and make a mistake, you can't hit rewind. It's not like a math problem you can do over. You can change your life, or the lives of your friends."

In some more rural areas, upping the driving age would put a burden on parents. In Lake County, public transportation isn't as accessible as it is in other counties, said Loreen Dresser, who has been a driving teacher at Antioch Community High School for the past 33 years.

"Change it to 18 and some kids won't get their license until they're in college," Dresser said. The result would be that "they have the freedom of college and maybe they're experimenting with alcohol. It's better with learn at 16 and be supervised by mom and dad for a couple of years."

Dr. Tahseen Mohammed takes a different view. Mohammed, the medical director of adolescent mental health at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, said 18-year-olds look at the world through much more adult eyes than 16-year-olds.

"Driving is a complex skill," Mohammed said. "Older teenagers are much better at self regulation and have more life experiences. They also have lower risk-taking behavior and better judgment - there is no question about that."