States Limit Licenses For Teens

WASHINGTON -- New teen drivers in Virginia don't get their licenses immediately -- the cards go to their parents instead.

It's all part of the state's effort to cut down on the number of crashes involving young drivers.

To get a license, Virginia teens must go to court with their parents. The judge then talks to the teens and hands the licenses to the parents.

"They can take it away, they can give it to them when they want, if for some reason they don't want to give it to them now, they get it first," said Deputy Ronald Walker, with the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

The new drivers also hear from a prosecutor and a mother who lost her teenage son in a crash.

"I'll never know what happened, but i know this: In the blink of an eye, lives were changed. We have a big family, and it has a big hole," Joyce Guthrie said.

Experts recommend graduated licenses for teenagers. For example, some states require a teen to spend the first six months behind the wheel with an adult driver in the car.

The next six months can be alone but with restrictions, including limits on late-night driving and limits on the number of other teenagers in the car.

Law enforcement experts say young teen drivers are five times more likely to crash when they are traveling with other teens.

"The biggest risk factor for teenagers is having friends in a car with them. There is the distraction element and sometimes it induces them to showing off and risk-taking," said Allan Williams, with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

"Just the sheer total waste and loss of potential, and it's needless. These crashes are largely preventable. They're predictable, and if they're predictable, they're thereby, therefore preventable," Capt. Jesse Bowman of the Fairfax County Police Department said.

There are several online resources designed to help teenagers and parents understand the importance of safe teen driving. Tips, tools and more information can be found at the following sites:

Dying 2 Drive
AAA Mid-Atlantic
National Institute For Highway Safety
National Safety Council
DriveHomeSafe.com
TeenDriving.com