Putting the brakes on teen drivers: more and more, teenagers are facing limits on getting a license, and on driving at night or with friends. The feds are behind it.

• Author: Wald, Matthew L.

You paid close attention during the training classes, passed the written exam, and aced the road test. So are you ready now for your driver's license? Increasingly, the government's answer is, "Not quite."

Getting a license used to give even the youngest person instant, full driving privileges. But in the last eight years, all but three states have enacted some kind of teen-driver restrictions. Graduated driver licensing, as it is known, is divided into stages. Each stage--first, a learner's permit, then an extended period with an apprentice license, and finally a full license--allows teens greater freedom. But the process takes months or, in some states, years.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)--the federal agency that is best known for investigating plane crashes but also handles some highway safety issues--is pressing all states to adopt this uniform set of restrictions on young drivers:

* Raise the minimum learner's age, now as low as 14 in some states, to 16;

* Set the minimum practice driving time supervised by an adult driver, not now required in some states, at 30 to 50 hours, during a six-month "holding period";

* Forbid teens from driving without an adult driver present between the hours of 9 or 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

* Allow no more than one teen passenger until the driver is 18.

Marion Blakey, who served as the safety board's chairwoman until October, says she became a supporter of graduated licensing as her daughter, 14, approached driving age.

"The statistics are not comforting," she says. "Sixteen-year-old drivers have a crash rate that is three times higher than 17-year-olds, five times greater than 18-year-olds, and double the rate of 85-year-olds."

MISERABLE STATISTICS

Also pushing for graduated licensing is the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is financed by auto insurers (who have a vested interest in reducing auto injuries and deaths). According to the institute, 16-year-olds crash almost 10 times more often than drivers age 30 to 59, who statistically are the safest group.

Facing such miserable statistics, and a group of drivers who cannot vote (but whose parents do), the states are acting. The idea is that nothing improves driving as much as experience, and that a driver's first months of experience should be in low-risk conditions.

The first stage is a mandatory minimum period with a learner's permit--now ranging from none at all, to a year, depending on the state--before an applicant can take a road test. Many states also require teens to complete a certain number of hours with a driver over 21 in the passenger seat.

In the second stage, the new driver is given a limited license. For a period of up to two years, there are significant restrictions on what he or she is allowed to do. At present, the most common limitation, on the books in 39 states, is on driving at night (although the definition of when night begins ranges from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.).

DARKNESS AND DISTRACTIONS

Twenty-six states are also putting limits on the number of passengers a new driver may carry, with some states holding down...