On November 18, 2008, Premier McGinty’s government through Jim Bradley, Minister of Transportation issued a statement regarding new legislation to improve road safety – the Road Safety Act.

Some of the issues of this act are:

• extension of the graduated licensing system from 2 years to 3 years
• teen passenger restrictions
• 30 day, 90 day suspensions
• return to G1 status
• zero tolerance blood alcohol
• zero tolerance on infractions

The new legislation appears to be putting some consequences and restriction in the licensing system. These should have been there from the beginning.

Now we have teens screaming about the violation of their “rights”. Hello people, driving is not a right, it is a privilege and must be earned.

When you look at the stats for collisions, teenage drivers represent a high percentage. This is also evidenced by the premiums insurance companies charge.

So, here is a solution.

Prohibit anyone from obtaining a license until 19 years of age. In Ontario, a person must be 19 years of age or older to purchase alcohol and tobacco. So why not restrict driving licenses until 19? That teen surge of testosterone will have passed; there will be more life experiences under the belt and hopefully better judgment.

Now before a vein pops, yes there are inconsistencies in the law, i.e. anyone over 21 can drive with less than 80 mg of alcohol in the blood. Is this fair? Of course not, but is life fair? No, it is not.

If these changes are going to improve safety on our roads, reduce health care costs (as a result of collisions), reduce road rage, reduce insurance premiums, then I’m all for it.