Lakota students lobby lawmakers for more driver’s training

By Lisa A. Bernard

WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP — Students from a school district hit hard by teen driving deaths asked state legislators Monday for more training behind the wheel.

“Instead of making it six months to have your temporary license, make it a year,” said Kelly Prohaska, a 16-year-old junior at Lakota West High School. “If you make it a year you’re going to have more time for people to develop and adjust.”

Fifteen-year-old Montalee Chavious agreed.

“Instead of (raising) the age, extend the time period from six months to maybe nine months to have more time in the classroom with teachers and in-car drivers,” said the Lakota West junior.

The school district attended by Prohaska and Chavious has seen seven teen driving deaths since 2003. During a mock legislative hearing at their school Monday, the two students were among a handful of teens to speak to Ohio lawmakers who are seeking to change the state’s driving age.

Bills in both the House and Senate propose changing the state’s graduated licensing program by raising the minimum age drivers can get a learner’s permit from 15 1/2 to 16 years old.

The measures also would forbid anyone younger than 18 from driving between midnight and 6 a.m., and prohibit teen drivers from having more than one passenger who is not a family member or an adult in the vehicle with them.

State. Rep. Tom Raga (R-Mason) introduced House Bill 343 in September and Sen. Gary Cates (R-West Chester) proposed the mirror legislation, Senate Bill 221, less than a month ago.

Both men were on hand at Lakota Monday to listen to teens’ opinions on their proposals.

The bills follow a JournalNews series on the state’s graduated licensing program and teen driving fatalities in Butler County.

At least 30 other states place more stringent restrictions on teen drivers than Ohio, according to a July report issued by the International Institute for Highway Safety.

Driving fatalities remain the top teen killer nationwide. Since 2003, more than two dozen area teens have died in auto accidents, with seven of them having attended Lakota schools.

Kim Dufek, a 17-year-old senior at Lakota West, applauded the legislators’ proposals.

“I just really wanted to say that it’s a really good idea to limit the people in the car,” said Dufek, who lost two close friends in driving fatalities. “I think no matter what people say about it, it should be something that is up to the adults to pass for us.”

Other teens said local speed limits and narrow roads should be addressed.

“I’m all for these laws you’re trying to pass, but do we think it’s partially a problem with the speed limits, especially in this area” said 17-year Mike Hansford, who added that most back roads remain unmarked. “I was just wondering if there’s anything we can do to possibly change that and widen the roads.”

Both Cates and Raga said they are taking the students comments into consideration, especially the requests for more training for new drivers.

“What I heard from students here today is that they feel there’s not adequate training on the road,” said Cates. “I think there’s a lot of plausibility in the notion of having a training period that lasts for one year.”

Raga agreed.

“The theme that seems to be coming out is leave it at 15 1/2 but give us a year to get more experience so we don’t have to pack it all in the end,” he said. “We’ve had members of the House that have had exactly the same concerns.”

Both legislators said they hope to have their proposal approved by next spring.

Contact Lisa A. Bernard at (513) 820-2186, or e-mail her at lbernard@coxohio.com.