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How many Iowa teens need to die before we increase the driving permit age?

By Steve Lombardi

This past week I posted TEEN LOGIC: Why is a 15-year-old taxiing passengers on I-380 in Iowa?

That news article was an accident on I-380 involving three teens, the driver was 15-year-old. She was a permit driver on the Interstate taxing other teens from a volleyball game to get something to eat. Under the law none should have been out on the Interstate. This isn't the first story we've seen lately about accidents in Iowa involving teen permit drivers and death.

Teen Driving at Time of Fatal Crash will Lose Driver's Permit

Investigation continues into crash that killed Marathon teen

If Teen Driving and Texting is Fun Why Is She Crying?

Girls roll van on I-380, parents all ask the wrong question

Is texting while driving really dangerous or are people exaggerating?

What is the problem with teen permit drivers?

Teens in Iowa can drive starting at age 14. They can drive to and from school or extracurricular activities. They violate the law by exceeding the law's limits. They put us at risk by using cell phones when they drive. When they text or talk on a cell phone they are as dangerous as drunken drivers.

The original reason for the law had to do with the fall harvest and farmers, wives included, needing to be in the fields rather than running kids back and forth to town for wrestling, basketball, baseball and football. Young farm teens were more experienced with driving and probably more level headed than today's urban youth with their cell phones. Farm kids drove tractors and other implements long before they were 14 so they had more experience with driving. Today's urban teens drive video cars and trucks, aren't getting exercise like farm chores that developed physical strength and a culture of safety. Times change and so should the law to accommodate safety issues.

We need to increase the permit age to 16, P-E-R-I-O-D! If you're in an accident and you were on your cell phone there needs to be an increased penalty besides a civil suit for damages. You need to lose your license for six months.

On a daily basis in West Des Moines I see no fewer than 10 distracted drivers with cell phones either talking or texting. Both are similar to drunken drivers. Now if on a daily basis we encountered 10 drunken drivers without further ado we'd make changes. So why do we allow texting teens to get away with it? Is the 14-year-old permit in urban areas the disease of lazy and uncommitted parents?

Now I know what the arguments will be but sorry I don't buy any of them.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on September 15, 2009 (boomark / email).