Fewer teenagers behind the wheel

YAKIMA -- The reasons are as different as the teenagers themselves.

Marcos Yanez needed to bring up his grades. Kendra Grow was immersed in softball. Ana Duran couldn't afford it.

Kelli Lamberte was either moving, tied up with sports or simply had enough friends willing to give her a lift.

A driver's license simply wasn't that important, she said.

"I'm not a big driver person," said Lamberte, a 17-year-old just now enrolling in driver's education at Parkside Driving School in Yakima.

Statistics are fuzzy on the issue, but anecdotal evidence shows that the driver's license is not the coveted milestone of independence to today's teenagers as it was for their parents.

Statewide, 39 percent of 16-year-olds received their driver's license last year compared with 48 percent in 2003, which is as far back as state Department of Licensing statistics go.

During the same time period, Yakima County's rate dropped from 34 percent to 30 percent. Benton County went from 51 percent to 42 percent.

Nationally, only 31 percent of 16-year-olds got their licenses in 2008, compared with 45 percent in 1988, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

However, authorities say the national statistics could be skewed because since 1988 many states have adopted "graduated licenses," which bestow driving privileges bit by bit over a year or more.

Still, a snapshot of teens and teachers here seems to show less urgency in getting a license.

"They're just not in a big rush," said Kelly Story, who oversees registration for the driver's education classes at Sunnyside High School. She even knows of few parents actually trying to talk their ambivalent kids into getting behind the wheel.

In 2001, only 18 percent of the students in drivers education at Sunnyside High School already had passed their 16th birthday. This year, 40 percent already are 16.

Kids in the state are eligible for a learner's permit, which they need for driver's education, at age 15 if enrolled in a driver's education course.

If there's a common reason, it's the economy.

Driver's education has become more expensive while gas and insurance prices dull the shine of adding another driver for some families.

In 2000, the state stopped funding driver's education in high schools. In 2003, the state approved 170 school districts to offer driver's education. This year, only 96 were sought approval.

That forces more teenagers to rely on private classes. Those run between $285 to $400, and the high schools that still have driver's education charge similar fees.

Some young people simply wait until they turn 18, when they can obtain a driver's license without first passing a driver's ed class. But that increases their chances of getting into a crash, said John Larson, business manager of A-1 Driving School in Yakima.

"It's really kind of sad," he said.

Worse still, some kids simply drive without a license. It's one of the most common charges in municipal and district courts, though not all of them are kids, of course.

"They just go off the grid and drive anyway," said Kevin Chase, superintendent of the Grandview School District.

Meanwhile, new laws have stripped some of the immediate thrill of a license.

In 2001, the state imposed the intermediate license, which restricts passengers and hours in steps as young drivers get older, for all drivers younger than 18. The state still considers that a license, however, and it registered on the federal statistics.