Driven Teens Beat the Deadline

What a difference a day can make.

For Michael Leyden, 16, that single day marked the distinction between the right to drive or the need to be driven. So the lanky teen joined the hordes Tuesday at area offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

With his legs curled under him on the floor of the Canoga Park branch, Leyden waited with his fellow teens in a long line for a single purpose: to escape the new graduated teen license law that goes into effect today.

The new law, passed by the state Legislature last year, restricts the hours California teenagers can drive and strictly limits the passengers they can transport. Teen drivers will not be allowed to have passengers under 20 for six months or be on the road between midnight and 5 a.m. for a full year.

The Teen Driver Safety Act of 1997 also nearly doubles the hours of supervised driving teens need before they can get a provisional license.

Although the change has been a long time coming, area DMV offices were mobbed Monday and Tuesday with teens trying to beat the clock. At the Arleta DMV, Roxie Walker, who administers written exams, called the place a “madhouse.”

On a normal day, Walker said, she hands out a dozen or so provisional exams. By early afternoon Tuesday she was already breaking open a third package of the exams, which come packed 75 to a bunch.

For many teenagers who turned 15 before July 1, the new law could, and would, be avoided.

“Man, if I had forgotten about this new law, I would have woke up tomorrow and said, ‘I’m a loser,’ ” said Emie Latcha, 16, at the Hollywood DMV. “I’m trying to get away from that law. It’s unfair.”

Henry Davis, 16, took the test to get his name in the system. Under the law, teens were required to take the provisional exam by the deadline, but did not need to pass it. This was a good thing for Davis, who got 17 of 46 questions wrong, well beyond the limit of five incorrect answers.

The Sylmar teen said he wasn’t sweating the results.

“I’ve got two more chances,” Davis said confidently. “The law don’t affect me now.”

Even though his mother, Jackie Calloway, believes it may do some good, she said the new law would be a burden on her, adding that she was tired of being her son’s chauffeur.

“I think the law is OK; it should prevent more accidents with teens,” she said. “But I still didn’t want it to affect us.”

Many parents said they were conflicted about taking their children into DMV offices before the deadline.

Kapp Johnson of Granada Hills said the motivation to slip under the wire was all his daughter’s. Carmelle, 15, might avoid the new state law, the Lutheran minister said, but would still have to live under house rules.

“She’ll still basically have a graduated license,” said Johnson, “because most of what they require are our rules at our home anyway.”

But some parents have found that making the rules is easier than enforcing them.

Elan Eifer, 16, got his learner’s permit more than a year ago, but he experienced his parents’ wrath when they discovered he’d been driving on the sly and without a license.

“Life was good,” he said wistfully, until his parents found out, took away the car and let his permit expire.

Now, with the new law closing in, Eifer decided it was time to act, arriving at the Hollywood DMV on his skateboard.

“I want to avoid this law. I studied a little. I’ll pass,” he said.

For others, though, the push to get a permit under the old rules was troubling. Irene Madrid, manager of the Canoga Park DMV office, said the change in the law was close to her heart. Last year, Madrid’s 18-year-old niece was critically injured when she turned her car into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Anticipating the last furious rush before the doors closed at 5 p.m., Madrid said she couldn’t help thinking about her niece.

“She made a mistake, the kind you make when you don’t have much experience on the road,” said Madrid. “If I was these parents, I don’t think I’d be here today. I think I’d wait for the new law.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

New Rules of the Road

Stricter laws for drivers under 18 take effect today

New learner’s permit regulations:

* Permit must be held a minimum of six months.

* Permit holder must complete 50 hours of adult-supervised driving.

* At least 10 hours of the supervised driving must be at night.

*

For the first six months of licensed driving:

* Passengers under 20 not permitted unless adult is present.

*

For the first year of licensed driving:

* Midnight-to-5-a.m. driving is prohibited unless licensed driver 25 or older is present.