It's logical to restrict teen licenses

Driver license restrictions for teenagers may at long last be coming to Montana.

The Legislature is pondering joining all other states in the nation in acknowledging that teens need time and practice to become safe drivers.

Sen. Kim Gillan, D-Billings, who introduced SB 104, said, "its time has come." We agree.

Changes are significant and practical.

Currently teenagers may receive a learner's permit as young as age 14 1/2. That won't change.

But now, teens can go on to pass a test and immediately be presumed to have the same skills and experience as an older driver. They simply don't.

Under Gillan's bill, teens would have to have at least 50 hours of driving experience, with 10 at night, supervised by a licensed adult.

Then, just as they have other curfews, teens would not be able drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless they have a licensed adult with them or are engaged in specific travel, such as driving for an emergency, job, school, religious event or farm-and-ranch work. That curfew is in effect for the first year of underage drivers' licenses.

The next restriction could make parents cheer.

For the first six months they are licensed, teens cannot have more than one passenger under age 18 in the vehicle, other than family members. For the next six months, there can be no more than three non-family members under 18. That's if there is no supervising adult driver present.

Any parent can tell you how their focused, serious, conscientious teenager is distracted with a car full of friends. Limiting those distractions keeps our kids, and other drivers, safe.

There are two almost universal descriptions of new drivers, according to a local Highway Patrol spokesman: They are usually overconfident and under-experienced. It's not a good combination, and there isn't much that can be done to eliminate those risks. Experience and humility come in their own time, on their own terms. Brain scans of young adults show they are still "a work in progress" until the early or mid-20s, according to studies released this year by the National Institutes of Mental Health.

Mitigating other risks, though, like night-time driving and distractions, is possible. Other states have recognized that and we think Montana is finally ready to join their ranks.