Young Driver Bill Makes Good Sense

* However little effect it may have on the people in Sacramento, the Huntington Beach City Council voted 4 to 2 supporting a bill to amend the driver’s license law for applicants under 18.

Driving an automobile in any major city in California requires some very heavy concentration. I drove for about 10 years in Los Angeles traffic as an outside salesman, I know. Even during peak traffic or bad weather, traffic flows with reasonable safety because the wide majority of drivers are responsible and obey the law. They also know driving an automobile is not a right, it is a privilege, a privilege that can be rescinded by law.

Laws are constantly being amended because of increasing traffic, and I disagree with many of them, for example seat belts and helmets to name a couple. I don’t need a government nanny for my personal safety. But now one comes up that I believe makes sense.

SB1329 places a heavy responsibility on the under-18 drivers. Although I believe rural areas throughout the state might be considered for exception. The archaic notion that driving is a part of freedom is flawed. The right to drive should be earned by the use of professional instruction as well as compliance with the law. I remember a few years back, one of the accepted ways to teach a youngster to swim was to just throw him in--and until recently, we’ve really handled driving in much the same manner.

Age is no indicator of one’s personal responsibility, whether 9 or 99. There are some very responsible people at 16, and there are others still learning.

Traffic conditions in California will continue to worsen, and driving an automobile is almost a necessity. The young drivers will be inconvenienced, but the responsible ones will work through it, and hopefully those less responsible will be better prepared for one of the biggest challenges in California, driving safely.

BILL HENRIETTA

Huntington Beach