Washington may require driver's ed for more young drivers
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Washington has better traffic safety laws than most states, but it can still do more to prevent fatal crashes among young drivers, a new report finds.
- To that end, state officials want to eventually require that all drivers 24 and under pass a driver's education course before getting licensed.
Why it matters: Washington had 745 deadly crashes last year, more than any year since 1990, according to the state Traffic Safety Commission.
- Drivers ages 15 to 20 were involved in 15.4% of fatal crashes in Washington in 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- That's the ninth-highest percentage among U.S. states.
Zoom in: Washington is one of six states to receive the highest rating of "good" in the "Roadmap to Safety" report released this month by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
- Yet the national group said the state can greatly improve its training requirements for young drivers.
- While 16- and 17-year-olds in Washington have to take a driver education course and have 50 supervised driving hours — 10 of them at night — to become licensed, that's not required of new drivers 18 and older.
- Those adult drivers can get their license solely by passing a written test and an in-person driving exam.
Zoom out: The national group recommends that all drivers through age 20 receive 70 hours of supervised driving experience, and be subject to the same driving restrictions as 16- and 17-year olds.
- In Washington, those include limits on unsupervised nighttime driving and on driving with other teenage passengers in the car.
The latest: The national report doesn't specifically recommend driver's ed courses as the path to improving young drivers' training. But that's what state officials in Washington are pursuing.
- Earlier this year, Washington's Legislature passed a measure directing the state Department of Licensing to develop a plan to require that all new drivers through age 24 take a driver's education course, with a target date of 2026.
- A state analysis of crash histories found that 18- to 25-year-old novice drivers who didn't take driver's ed had a 70% higher rate of injury and fatal crashes, Mark McKechnie of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission told state lawmakers earlier this year.
What they're saying: "People can get a driver's license pretty easily at age 18 if they passed the written test and the driving test, but that doesn't mean they're that prepared," state Rep. Jake Fey (D-Tacoma), chair of the state House Transportation Committee, told Axios last week.
Yes, but: State lawmakers would have to pass an additional measure to implement the broader driver's ed requirements, state Sen. Marko Liias (D-Everett), the chair of the state Senate Transportation Committee, told Axios.
- Liias said he's hopeful the Legislature will finalize those plans in 2025 so the new rules could take effect the next year.
What we're watching: Whether the Legislature will pony up money to pay for driver's education for more people — and whether older teens and young adults will balk at having to take the class.