Drivers weigh consequences of ‘one-year’ license rule

During an average school-day lunch, many students pile into one car and hurry off to fill their stomachs. Though the law imposes a one-year wait before new drivers can carry minors, few students climbing into cars know if the driver has had his license for that long. To these kids, waiting that year does not matter.

“Cops can’t pull you over just because they think you don’t have your year,” junior Andrew Ferguson said.

For Ferguson and others, this technicality becomes a sort of safety blanket for bending the provisional rules. As long as they can drive safely, having others in the car will not matter.

There are other drivers, however, who feel that the consequences are simply too great. Senior Zach Hewlin refuses to drive other students until he has had his license one year.

“I just don’t think it’s worth it if I get pulled over,” Hewlin said. “The extra fine makes it so much worse.”

The rule states that a person with the provisional driver’s license may not carry minors — defined as someone under the age of 20 — in the car without a parent, guardian or adult over the age of 25 with a valid driver’s license present in the car.

The penalties of the violation can include community service hours and fines of up to $50. There is also the Saratoga-specific reality of the sheriff’s deputies who camp out near the school parking lot to catch petty violators that, according to some students, just ticket students in order to meet a monthly ticket quota.

“It’s really annoying to have cops right outside the school just fishing for tickets,” junior Billy Vithanage said. “I got pulled over pulling out of the school because my backlight was cracked — not broken, just cracked.”

Regardless of risk, there will always be those who disregard the rules of the provisional driver’s license. And despite the temptation of the glorious idea of eating lunch off campus, there will be those who stick to the rules.

“It’s risky,” sophomore Kevin Lee said. “[Driving others] is fun but also dangerous. One time, I was cited three times for carrying others, speeding and forgetting my license.”

While many students blatantly disregard the rule, some parents disagree about how important following this law is.

Many parents believe that the rule is merely a ruse to ward off inexperienced drivers from carrying other minors; thus if their child can be considered “experienced,” he should not have to worry about the rule.

Senior Philip Cai said both of his parents do not mind his driving other minors.

“After having to sit with and watch me learn to drive for half a year before I could, by law, test for my license, they have come to understand that I am an able, responsible driver,” Cai said. “It is the same for many parents of other students in my class.”

This parent sentiment is reflected in the actions of many students who drive others without their year. A poll of random students leaving campus during lunch showed that only 1 of 4 could do so legally and that the majority of the juniors had broken this rule.

But there is the other side of the argument. Some parents believe that students should not drive without their year even if their student is trustworthy. These parents agree that the rule is there for a reason and that it is meant to be a safety precaution for new drivers.

But regardless of what parents believe, students will always do what they believe is right because “in the end, it is really up to the students to decide whether the law is OK or not,” Lee said.