Teen Drivers

Some people say that being in high school, which essentially means being a teenager, is the best time of your life. While that might be debatable to a 30-year-old grossing $2 million a year and spending winters at a flat in the Caymans, being 16 does have its perks.

For most, being a teen includes free food, little work, free rent, and your own room, maybe a parent to do your laundry, and basically your entire life stretching ahead of you. Of course, teen drama and the usual setbacks are well documented: the rebellion; living la vida loca away from the house and the prying eyes of parents―and testing boundaries with each passing day.

So, in some ways it is understandable that you would want to pack into a car with all your friends and hobnob around town. Freedom is priceless―but freedom has consequences. And while no one is saying a teenager is not responsible enough to make certain appropriate choices when given that freedom, especially behind the wheel, the statistics leaning toward the contrary do not lie.

• Nationally and in Colorado, motor vehicle accidents are the foremost cause of death for teenagers.

• Nationally and in Colorado, 16-year-olds crash more than any other age group.

• A whopping 24% of teen drivers killed in 2003 had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or greater.

• In Colorado, 2004 ended with 96 teenage deaths in vehicle accidents.

• Of those teenage deaths, 80% occurred when another teenager was driving; two-thirds were not wearing seatbelts.

But stats do not mean quite so much when you are young and have the indelible sense of immortality. Of course, it is not just this generation; it is an age-old problem.

Twenty years ago, principals would bring a smashed up, obliterated car to the school grounds and just plop it there with a sign saying "This could be you," and a driver education teacher would roll reels and reels of film showing horrendous car wrecks involving teenagers. Did it work then? For some, maybe. Scare tactics only go so far and teenagers deserve a respectful approach to learning how to drive.

Old Laws and New Laws

These days, Colorado has introduced numerous laws employing "graduated" learning tactics; making teens spend much more time in training before actually earning a driver license. These programs seem to be making a difference, although a recent spate of high profile accidents involving teenagers packed into cars and, unfortunately more teen deaths, have overshadowed some of this success.

You watch the television. You see the interviews of distraught parents and crying friends. The accident graphics shown over and over. The funerals and more crying friends gathered closely together. Maybe you even knew these people.

So the state assembly burned the midnight oil during the 2005 session and added even more restrictive laws. No, the state is not out to get you as a teenager. They are not looking to take away all of your rights and ground you to your room until you reach adulthood. They fully understand that there a ton of the 220,000 teenagers holding Colorado driver licenses that are exceptionally responsible.

Besides, what is the matter with a bit of extra study? Come on, your entire teenage existence is about studying and homework. What is learning just a bit more about handling a vehicle or understanding the rules of the road going to hurt?

What are these new laws anyway and how do they affect you? Well, let's break it down.

The Graduated License Program

The law came into being in 1999 and reflects how learner permits are designated. It also provided some all encompassing general rules for those having a driver license, but who are still under 18 (wear seatbelts, no drinking and driving, etc.).

There are three types of permits issued in the state, each discussed in detail on our Driver Education page on this site. Each requires those under 18 to hold that permit for one year and keep a diary of all driving time. This driving time needs to reach a minimum of 50 hours, assessed by a licensed driver over 21. Ten of those hours need to be under the cover of darkness. You may be saying "Oh, man" right now, but consider yourself lucky it is not 50 by day and 50 by night since a good chunk of major teen bangups occur at night.

New laws passed in April 2007 allow you to sign up for a driver education course when you turn 14 �. Once you’ve completed the classroom portion of an approved driver’s education class, you can apply for your permit within six months of passing that course.

There was a day when these courses were a rite of passage for a sophomore in high school, but it seems districts that offer Driver's Ed are going the way of Colorado's Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse. Extinct.

There are still a few districts across the state offering the curriculum, but these days the vogue thing to do is sign up at a driver school. You get to drive around town with the big "Student Driver" sign on the top of the car and have every other driver on the road stare at you in fear. It is control, and you can even see it as part of your rebellion stage. It is cool. The DMV has prepared a list of approved third-party course providers for your convenience.

You can also apply for a permit at 15 and 6 months if you enroll in and complete a Driver Awareness class from an independent course provider accredited by the state. This four-hour session covers a number of the basics in the Colorado Driver Handbook.

Most of the businesses tack on an extra 30 minutes and give the actual written test at the end of the class, and the best part is that it is valid. You pass with an 80% or better and head to a driver license office and the permit is yours.

The last option is to get a permit at 16 by just taking the written test at any driver license office. But, you will not be able to have an official license until you reach 17. Until you reach the age of 18, you are required to have behind-the-wheel training before being eligible for your regular driver’s license. Depending on availability of options in the area where you live, you have three options for behind-the-wheel training: 1) Twenty hours from a permanent business offering instruction; 2) Twelve hours of training given by your parent or legal guardian; 3) Six hours of training offered by an instructor employed by a state-approved driver education course.

Minor Drivers and Passengers Bill SB 05-36

This law went into effect July 1, 2005 and regardless of when you received a license, if you are under 18 it affects you. It restricts the number of passengers in your vehicle. Basically, it says you cannot have any friends (unless they are over 21) in the car for the first six months. Not one.

Then, after that period, for the next six months you can only have one friend in the car. An exemption to this is that if you have had your license for more than a year when the law went into effect, you can drive more than one buddy around.

The other major impact of this law is that those under 18 (the holding a license for a year is at play here, too) you cannot drive between midnight and 5 a.m. So forget taking your parents' car out for a late-night joyride. Take a complete look at the law and all of the exemptions.

One Last "Oh Man"

As of August 2005, there can be no more gabbing on a cell phone if you are driving with a permit.