Editorial: Young drivers must avoid distraction

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, October 23, 2019

A new study out this week indicates teenagers are getting their driver’s license and hitting the roads in record numbers.

We urge parents to reinforce the dangers of distracted driving and to model good behavior.

The new report reveals a changing trend in teen licensure from when the AAA Foundation first evaluated the issue in 2012. At the time, the country was just emerging from a recession and many young people cited their family’s inability to afford the high cost of driving as a reason why they did not obtain their license sooner.

The new AAA (auto club) Foundation study surveyed young adults ages 18-24 to determine when they obtained their license and found that nationally, 40.8% got their license at or before age 16 and 60.3% got their license before the age of 18.

“The trend for teens to acquire their driver’s license has changed over the past 10 years,” Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, said in a prepared statement. “Many are getting licensed before the age of 18, which means more of Generation Z is learning to drive under the protection of state graduated driver licensing programs and parental supervision.”

We urge young drivers to put the phone down.

Texting and driving kills.

Drivers have been warned about it.  Laws have been passed to prevent it.

Everyone has heard about all the serious injuries and deaths caused by distracted driving but our roadways are still full of people texting and driving.

Georgia’s “hands-free” law took effect July 1 last year.

It doesn’t appear to have even made a dent in the number of people texting and driving.

And people are dying on our roadways at an alarming rate.

The law prohibits drivers from having a phone or stand-alone electronic device in their hands or touching any part of their body while operating a motor vehicle on Georgia roadways.

A Bluetooth speakerphone, earpiece, electronic watch or wireless headset is allowed so long as it is not being operated by the driver’s hand. The use of GPS and navigational devices are allowed but drivers cannot have a phone in their hand or supported by any part of their body.

The law is designed to prevent cellphones from interfering with a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle and keep attention on the road.

Distracted driving is a danger to everyone on the roadways.

The law allows drivers to use “hands-free” technology to make or receive phone calls and use GPS devices, but drivers cannot at any time use their phones to write, read or send text messages, e-mails, social media and internet data. The use of voice-to-text technology is allowed, officials explained.

The hands-free law also prohibits drivers from watching videos as well as recording videos, though GPS navigational videos and continuously running dash cams are permitted.

Drivers can listen to music through streaming apps on their phone, but they cannot activate their apps or change music through their phone while driving. Music streaming apps programmed and controlled through the vehicle’s radio system are allowed.

Music streaming apps that also have video are not allowed since the law specifically prohibits drivers from watching videos.

For anyone still confused about what they are allowed to do when driving, you cannot have a phone in your hands or on any part of your body if you want to make or receive a phone call or use GPS.

You cannot legally text, e-mail or surf the internet on your phone at all when you are driving.

Distracted driving is illegal and deadly.