Lynda was definitely doing the Happy Dance that he could now get where he needed to go without her. As we were talking, she mentioned how confusing the procedure had been to get a license. If your teen is almost driving age, you should know, Oklahoma law has changed. With a simple outline, you might save yourself a trip or two to the DMV.
The first step is getting a Learner's Permit. In Oklahoma this permit enables you to drive a car as long as someone 21 or over is in the passenger seat beside the driver.
The following criteria must be met to apply for the permit:
1. You are15 1/2 and are currently receiving or have passed Driver's Education.
2. You have passed the written Driver's Exam. (This is taken at the DMV. You need to pick up the Oklahoma Driver's Manual there prior to taking this test. It is also on line at http://www.dmv.org/ok-oklahoma/drivers-ed.php ) You will not pass it without studying. Promise.
3. You have passed the Vision Exam.
Driver's Education is offered on a limited basis in area high schools. Refer to your child's counselor for availability. There are also private driving instructors who are certified by the State of Oklahoma. Something new since my children is Parent-Taught Drivers Ed. Information on this option can be found at http://www.dps.state.ok.us/dls/ptde.htm . For all intents and purposes, it is a correspondence course. A good friend is doing this with her daughter and found it a little nerve-wracking and difficult because of the very nature of 15 year olds and Mothers. It is, however, cheaper. Private Driving instructors are between $250.00 and $300.00 dollars and her AAA Parent Drivers Ed Course was $100.00. You drive for 6 months with the Learner's Permit.
The next step in a license is the "Graduated Driver's License". This is also new since my kids and here's the explanation. On November 1, 2005 Oklahoma began enforcing a law changing the way teens are permitted to drive. Too many teen drivers were getting injured or killed and additional rules would help stop these injuries and deaths. The graduated driver's license (GDL) is helping to lower those numbers. (note: without Driver's Ed, applying 16 year olds drive under the GDL for 1 year)
Once you apply for an Oklahoma Driver's License and the State of Oklahoma grants you a Graduated Driver's License, you will have the following restrictions:
You are only permitted to drive between the hours of 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., (with exceptions for driving to work, school, church or related activities, or if you are driving with a licensed driver in the seat next to you.)
You are not allowed to drive, even between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. with multiple passengers younger than age 21, unless those passengers are members of your family. So, while brothers and sisters may be driven around, a car full of friends may not.
Once the year is over, if your driving record is clean, the restrictions will be lifted.
If there is a traffic ticket and you are convicted (found guilty) of a moving violation during the first year of driving, the graduated license restrictions will remain on the license until you turn 18.
As an aside, I for one, think this is a grand plan and congratulations to our lawmakers. I wish my children would have had more time to mature and grow before the whole Master of the Universe thing. 44% of teen deaths are directly related to car crashes. I found the following from the National Safety Council that further supports the Graduated License concept.
Traffic safety programs for teens are often designed to help teens modify their own driving behavior to reduce risk of crashes. But we know that many teens have difficulty regulating their risk-taking behavior, and recent research is beginning to give us insight into why. Researchers are finding that the area of the brain that governs weighing consequences of one’s actions, suppressing impulses and organizing thoughts does not fully mature until about age 25. In addition, hormones are active and influencing the brain’s neurochemicals that regulate excitability and mood. This can result in thrill-seeking behavior and other experiences that create intense feelings, during years when the brain’s ability to make people more responsible is not yet fully mature. It is also during these years that teenagers typically learn to drive. A balanced approach to traffic safety for young drivers should not depend entirely on teens regulating their own driving behavior. (AMEN)
OK. 6 months with a permit, 6 months with a GDL, then an Unrestricted License
if all criteria is met.
Here is where I save you the second or third trip back and forth to the DMV. A driver applying for a permit or license must have the following at the time of application:
1. For Permit -proof of enrollment or completion of Driver's Ed.
2.. 2 forms of ID. These can be a birth certificate, a social security card, a passport, a school photo I.D.. ...Check http://www.dmv.org/ok-oklahoma/apply-license.php for other approved identification.
3. A notarized statement (usually from the School Bursar) of current enrollment in high school
4. Also from the Bursar, proof of passing the 8th grade Reading Competency test. (Yes 8th grade, this one is a little disconcerting isn't it?)
5. Applying for the GDL is when the Driving portion of the test is administered. Be sure that the car tag and insurance verification are current in the vehicle used to take the test.
6. Fees are $25.50 for Permit and $25.50 for a Class D License.
Getting a Driver's License is definitely a milestone in both you and your child's life. Handing over the car keys is a wing and a prayer moment. As parents, hopefully we have given them the tools and the good sense to be wise and careful. With freedom comes responsibility and communicating expectations is crucial to letting a 16 year old get behind the wheel of a car. This new graduated license is a good way to start.
They are also going to start requiring students to pass other EOI tests in addition to reading, so if you have other children coming up, you might tell them to learn their biology and history!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, MHS offers drivers' ed. during the school day now and will also offer it in summer school. Contact Mr. Carey, 9th grade principal at MHS, for more information.
The restricted license is dumb. Lots of us are good drivers and we are penalized because of the bad teen age drivers. No one really minds the rules anyway and you can always say you are on a church, job or school related trip after 11:00...or anyone in the car is your brother or sister!
ReplyDeleteLet me first start off by saying I would like to see the legal driving age raised to 18.
ReplyDeleteThat said it always amazes me when parents turn the keys over to their 16 year old, almost like a rite of passage without the consideration that the decision deserves.
Statistics show:
*Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.
*16 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.
*16-year-olds are three times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than the average of all drivers.
*Drivers age 15-20 accounted for 12.6 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes in 2005.
Someone asked me if these statistics are a reflection of inexperienced drivers. I think that the graduated licensing program shows that inexperience is not the main contributer to automotive accidents. For example, "statistics show that 16 and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger."
That all said, I agree that we're fortunate we have legislatures that pursed graduated licenses. "Graduated drivers license programs appear to be making a difference. Fatal crashes involving 15- to 20-year olds in 2005 were down 6.5 percent from 7,979 in 1995, to the lowest level in ten years."
I also saw a documentary last year on PBS concerning teenage driving. One of the most interesting bit of information I learned from that program, was that teenage drivers mimic their parents' driving style. The program followed a dozen or so teenagers around for around a month I believe, and found that the teenagers' hand placement on the steering wheel matched their parents placement (ex. one hand, two hands, correct position, sagging at the bottom of the steering wheel). Also the teenagers matched their parents driving behavior, whether speeding through yellow lights, driving close to the shoulder or close to the dividing lines, it was interesting I thought. As a parent I've definitely become self conscious of my driving style since watching that program.
The "rules of the road" are in place not to inconvenience anyone, but to ensure a measure of safety for each of us. Is it an inconvenience that we can only drive 25 miles an hour through a neighborhood? It's not when that one person darts into the road at the last second to retrieve a ball, pet or someone else.
In the spirit of this blog, some people ask how they can forge relationships with their teenager(s), and what better way then making them apart of your daily life versus freeing them perhaps immaturely. While a 5am practice time is early (I agree), those few minutes spent together during the car ride can add to the moments together that become more fleeting as your children get older.
J Thanks so much for the insight. Those white crosses on the highway are chilling and so many represent young drivers. I agree is theory with the 18 year old driving age but in fact, a large majority of 16 year olds are working outside of the home. Parents are working late or have sort of set these kids loose to earn their own keep and manage their own lives. It all goes back to the family structure, setting priorities, and standing up to pressure from our own children and our society. It's not easy but it's right. C
ReplyDeleteHere's a question. Should we let another parent know if their child is driving recklessly? I did not see it but I heard my son talking to another friend on the phone about a drive home with another buddy. Kind of innocent...not outrunning a train or anything, but enough to warrant a talk with my child about riding with him. It alway seems like people say, "I would want ot know" but a "kill the messenger" attitude is the result.
ReplyDeleteIt might be better than if you don't say anything and it kills the kid from his wreckless driving or he kills someone else...Chances are, nothing will happen, but you would just want to say something very casually, though, and non-recriminating. How well do you know the other kid's parent? That might make a difference, too. You could also say something about overhearing both the boys talking about a time they were driving wrecklessly, so it doesn't sound like you were just blaming the one driver.
ReplyDeleteI agree Mel. Non-accustatory and make it inclusive...no finger pointing at just the one kid. Tact and diplomacy is an absolute necessity anytime one parent points out incidents or issues regarding another parent's children. So often, many families are choosing to ignore the elephant in the living room and being directly confronted by a third party often backfires on the good-intentioned messenger.
ReplyDeleteLife and Death Issues? That is another story. Be specific, direct and then drop it. It is then in the family's court. C
Dear Melony and Chrissy,
ReplyDeleteGreat recent article on teen driving and graduated licensing laws! Thanks for helping keep this important issue in the public eye. Here's some additional ways that parents can help their teens stay alive on the road:
10 Ways to Crashproof
Your Teen
Car crashes kill more teens than drugs, suicide, alcohol and guns combined. Here are 10 effective ways to help crashproof your kids:
* Commit the time to helping them become safer, smarter drivers. Teens typically get 3-6 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction in driver education programs, and it takes 30-50 hours of experience just to function well in basic traffic situations. You should plan on at least 50 hours with them over a 6 to 12 month period.
* Work with your teen in increasingly complex and varied driving environments as they show confidence and competence, in this order: parking lots, residential streets, country roads, freeways and finally, busy urban streets.
* Teach them the proper response to the following hazardous driving situations: rain, ice, snow, fog, tire blow-out and loss of power steering or brakes.
* Eliminate or reduce the most dangerous driving distractions. Using a cell phone while driving is the equivalent of having a .08 blood alcohol level. Each teen passenger of a teen driver increases the crash risk by 50%.
* Teach your teen how to emergency brake and to maintain a 4 second following distance from cars in front of them.
* Improve their visual scanning skills by teaching them to focus 2 to 3 times further down the road than they normally do, and work to double their peripheral vision.
* Sign a Crashproof Contract outlining restrictions, privileges and responsibilities associated with their use of a car, with specific rewards and penalties for attaining or violating these agreements.
*Employ education, sensible restrictions and good role modeling to reduce your teen’s risk of speeding, drinking and becoming a victim of road rage.
* Put yourself in their shoes. For part of your time driving together, get behind the wheel and have your teen make suggestions and comments about your driving.
* Instill a defensive driving mindset in your teen, where they expect others to make mistakes and violate traffic laws and are prepared to deal with it when they do.
Timothy C. Smith
Timothy C. Smith is a St. Charles, IL based certified driving instructor, licensed SCCA racer, father of three teens and award-winning author of Crashproof Your Kids: Make Your Teen a Safer, Smarter Driver. Visit at www.crashproofyourkids.com.
One of my students went to get her permit today - it took her six hours!!!! First, she had a notarized copy of her birth certificate, which they didn't accept. So, her grandmother took her to the bank deposit box to get it. When they got back, the office was closed for lunch, so they went out to eat themselves. They returned early to be first in line, only to find out that her grandmother couldn't sign - it had to be her parent. They drove out to pick her mom up from work, she signed the paper, the girl took her written test and passed!! Yeah! And after only a whole day of running around! What an ordeal!
ReplyDeleteThat's what I mean Mel. Putting aside the safety issues of driving, when you ARE ready, be sure to know the specifics, the exacts and the only accepts.
ReplyDeleteI do know the state DMV contact person will get back pretty quick via email if you have a question...they do not answer the phone locally. I tried repeatedly when I was writing the article.
Good to hear from Timothy Smith in Illinois. Check out his comments and then his web site.