If you’re lucky enough to drive around campus, don’t get comfortable. New rules, introduced to keep Ontario roads safer, include a zero tolerance policy on speeding and alcohol consumption. If you’re under 22 and caught burning rubber, or with a blood alcohol level higher than zero per cent, you could have your license suspended for 30 days on the spot. G2 drivers are not allowed to have more than one passenger under the age of 19 at any time of day, excluding siblings.

It is true that traffic violations are highest among youth, and the alcohol consumption policy is rational. There is no excuse for impaired driving, especially with passengers present. Speeding has been a problem, but it seems ridiculous to penalize a person going 10 miles over the limit the same way you would a person going over 50.

The rules for passengers are particularly unfair. Although the statistics are certainly against us, not every youth driver would hop into a car with four of their friends while drunk, and neither would they speed or race.

Rules should be focused not on youth, but new drivers. A new driver myself, I know how hard it is to stay focused with three or four friends talking all around me—this is why I used to avoid it at all costs. But as I get more comfortable with driving, my passenger seats have filled. It doesn’t make sense for an 18-year-old with two years of driving experience to have less freedom than a 22-year-old with three month’s worth.

These laws may not deter dangerous driving as well as hoped. After all, there have always been strict laws on drinking and driving, and drivers under the influence continue to be hazards on the road. There are rules for speeding, but they don’t stop people from street racing and endangering others on the road. If a person does not value their own life or the lives of those around them, they aren’t likely to honour the driving laws.

If you feel these new laws should be revised before being passed, you can sign the petition online at http://www.petitiononline.com/ydont/petition.html. Write to your MPP, or participate in the protest at Queen’s Park on November 27th.