Eight states have put substantial restrictions on the motoring privileges of teenagers. Graduated licensing, as it is known, usually involves several requirements. New drivers get a learner's permit that lets them drive only with a parent or other adult. Once they have completed 25 or 50 hours of driving under supervision, they are allowed to venture out alone. But they have to be off the road by a certain hour, which can be as early as 9 p.m. and as late as 1 a.m.
Some states limit the number of kids who can ride with a teenage driver.
Some provide for license suspensions after just two moving violations. This approach doubtless looks unfair to adolescents, and if it had been tried in the 1960s, it would have spawned protests that would have made the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention look like a garden party. It is done solely to increase the odds that young drivers will survive to become old drivers. The potential value of graduated licensing is large and obvious, given that riding in a car with an adolescent can make bungee jumping look dull. They tend to drive more recklessly than their elders, and they are less able to compensate for their mistakes.