Colorado’s political leaders should strive to make Colorado the safest state of its size in the country. They should start by addressing traffic fatalities. State Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, has wisely done so by introducing Senate Bill 11.

Winter’s bill goes to the heart of an issue that should strike fear in all parents: the prospect of uniformed officers arriving at the doorstep to announce a deadly crash involving teens or young adults.

Our culture habitually prioritizes safety after a high-profile casualty or mass murder dominates the news cycle. That’s just human nature. Think about plane crashes, While U.S. crashes on highways and roads killed 144,104 people between 2015 and 2020, commercial plane crashes killed 5. Despite this, more Americans fear flying than car trips to the airport.

After a cardiac arrest nearly killed the NFL’s 24-year-old Damar Hamlin this month, talk-media pundits and articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Scientific American questioned the safety of the game and whether we should play it. Never mind the real killer among professional football players.

Of more than 70 NFL players who have died during their careers since the 1930s, approximately eight have been lost to heart attacks or cardiac arrests and most occurred off the playing field. That compares to 26 killed in vehicular incidents during their playing years.

National Safety Council data show the lifetime odds of dying in a car crash are 1-in-101, meaning everyone is relatively vulnerable. By comparison, the lifetime odds of dying in a mass shooting – something politicians prioritize resolving – are 1-in-11,125. That means cars endanger individuals 99% more than mass killers with guns.

Indeed, we must focus on reducing gun violence. No one should downplay the dangers of maniacs with rapid-fire rifles and handguns.

Yet, if we genuinely care about public safety – particularly pertaining to young adults and teenagers — we will focus more on cars and their drivers. The National Center for Health Statistics says, in no uncertain terms, “motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of death to teenagers, representing over one-third of all deaths.”

Senate Bill 11 would almost guarantee fewer traffic fatalities caused by ill-prepared drivers. It takes household finance limitations off the table by offering a $1,000 tax credit to pay for driver education.

Colorado law allows 16-year-olds to receive licenses without having completed a professionally supervised driver education course. That’s nonsensical in a state with increasingly congested roads and a soaring traffic fatality rate.

As drafted, Winter’s bill would “require all minors who are under 18 years of age to complete a 30-hour driver education course and minors who are 18 years of age or older but under 21 years of age to complete a 4-hour driver awareness course.”

We don’t let people under 21 buy tobacco in Colorado, yet we license 16-year-olds to drive tons of steel at high speeds with no guarantee they are properly trained to protect themselves and others.

While increasing barriers to teenaged licensure, the legislature should consider funding to better staff the understaffed Colorado State Patrol – the first responders most likely to prevent highway fatalities and mitigate their death tolls.

Passing this bill should be simple and non-partisan. Driving is a privilege, unlike the right to possess a gun. That means legal hurdles to this proposal are negligible at most. To save lives, let us ensure young people are better skilled at driving before they are licensed. Legislators who want to save lives should support this commonsense bill.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board