The Nanny State groweth. Of course, that’s what it always does, but some ways are just less defensible than others. For example, recently the Northern Virginia coalition of state delegates, led by David Albo, ushered a bill into law that seeks to outlaw death … or something:
A new state law effective in September requires parents to attend driver’s education class with their children before they can get their licenses.
“It’s a 90-minute program that’s in addition to the classroom instruction that hopes to inform parents,” said Liz Payne, Coordinator for Health and Physical Education for Fairfax County Public Schools.
Fairfax County, the largest school district in northern Virginia, is trying to get the word out early and put together a plan of action.
“In that first year of driving, it’s very important to try to educate the parent and the teen of the dangers that come along with driving,” said Fairfax County police officer Rick Call.
According to the law’s supporters, by forcing parents to go back to driving school for one night, teenagers will stop getting killed and injured in car accidents. Which is really quite brilliant if works. Yet, somehow, I find myself a bit skeptical that it will.
State Delegate Dave Albo proposed the new law after learning it had been successful in Prince William County.
“Basically, they cut teenage accidents in half,” said Albo. “So I said, ‘Wow, this thing is really working. Maybe we should bring it statewide.'”
I’m not sure where Albo got his information, but the only stats that I could find show no such miracle-working. In fact, in 2009 Prince William County (PWC) had the second highest number of motor vehicle crashes (5,148) and fatalities in the entire Commonwealth (16). It is true that these numbers were slightly down since 2005 when the County passed it’s parent-drivers-ed bill, but no more dramatically than the entire state (most likely due to higher gas prices and the recession leading to less miles driven), which continued a downward over the past three decades. Adding to the bill’s dubious efficacy is the fact that in 2005 when it passed, PWC realized a noticeable jump in crashes (from 6,777 to 6,991) and fatalities (from 22 to 29), only to be surpassed the following year when the numbers rose to 7,132 and 46 respectively.
I wasn’t able to find any statistics specifically about teenage drivers in PWC, and I guess it’s possible the increase in accidents all involved adults (probably rushing to get to their drivers ed classes), but that’s not very likely. What does make sense is that the bill in PWC has had little to no effect, and that Albo et al. have ulterior motives for getting this bill passed. A telltale sign of ulterior motives, of course, is when “Think Of The Children” logic is invoked:
Other lawmakers balked at the idea, but the northern Virginia delegation jumped at it despite complaints from parents who said they just don’t have the time.
“I always write back and say on my seven-mile commute from my house to my office, I drive by three roadside memorials to teenagers who died from losing control of their car,” said Albo.
“Any crash or any fatality, of course, is one too many,” Payne said. “So I think this was an attempt to address that issue.”
Yes, obviously forcing parents to attend 90 minutes of preaching about the dangers of teenagers on the road will sort that right out. And I’m sure that all those parents affected by this beautifully beneficent helping hand from the state will remember to thank their delegates when the next election rolls around.
