Editorial: The road to teen driver reforms

Secretary of State Jesse White wants teen drivers "to get from Point A to Point B in the safest possible manner." To that end, Illinois is poised to enact rules to better prepare teens for the rigors and risks of the road.

Many of the reforms come under Senate Bill 172, which awaits the governor's signature. Rod Blagojevich should grab a pen. Taken together, these will represent some of the strictest graduated licensing requirements in the nation, putting Illinois on par with states like North Carolina, which saw teenager accidents drop after passing similar laws in 1997. That state saw fatalities among 16-year-olds plummet by 60 percent over a three-year period.