THERE is no debate about this fact: The first year that American teenagers have their driver’s licenses will be among the most dangerous of their lives. Nothing kills more of them than car crashes.
There is a debate over this carnage, but it is over the effectiveness of driver education courses. Do they save lives, as most everyone thinks, or weaken safeguards that have been in place for years?
It at first sounds like an argument not worth having, but over the last 15 years every state has passed graduated licensing laws, which grant driving privileges for young drivers in stages. Among other restrictions, inexperienced drivers can be barred from driving at night or having young, nonfamily passengers.