After serving as a state legislator for the last six years, Lois Snowe-Mello knows that any attempts to change the driving laws for Maine teenagers can be unpopular.

Two years ago, the grandmother of eight from Poland co-sponsored the bill that prohibited teen drivers from carrying passengers – aside from family members or other licensed adults – for the first 90 days after receiving their licenses.

Not surprisingly, she heard from lots of teens who said they resented the new law, claiming it was an unfair restriction on their long-awaited driving privileges and a major setback to their busy social lives.

But back in 2000, when 40 young people were killed on Maine’s roads, Snowe-Mello was more than willing to take some of the heat in order to help keep even more teens from becoming fatal statistics.

Now, as she reflects on the tragic year just past, when the automobile-related deaths of 55 young people represented the highest Maine fatality rate in recent years, Snowe-Mello is convinced that further changes in licensing laws cannot come soon enough.

Crashes involving 16- to 24-year-olds accounted for nearly a third of the accidents that resulted in death or injury this year, even though that population represents only 12.5 of Maine’s 920,000 licensed drivers. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, drivers between the ages of 16 and 24 constitute 16 percent of the driving population nationwide and cause 21 percent of all fatal accidents.

“It’s not that I like to see any more government controls on our lives,” Snowe-Mello said, “but I just feel that society needs to do all we can to help our kids remain safe on the roads.”

Snow-Mello is expected to sponsor a bill in the coming session of the Legislature that would establish some sort of curfew on the hours that teens may drive late at night. Although the scope of the bill still is under review, Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky has suggested a curfew that runs from midnight to 5 a.m., when about 40 percent of fatal teen crashes occur.

Rep. Sean Faircloth, D-Bangor, who first pushed the curfew idea in 1995, said recently that he would prefer that any new bill contain an incentive that would allow teenagers to drive at night if they maintain a clean driving record for a year.

Gwadosksy also is reviewing proposals to raise the driving age from 16 to 17, extend the ban on carrying passengers from 90 days to 120 days, suspend the licenses of teen drivers who get tickets, and extend the learner’s permit period from three months to six.

While Snowe-Mello knows that the new proposals probably won’t sit well with many Maine teenagers, and even some parents who feel that the driving laws for the young already are too restrictive, she is confident that her fellow legislators will seriously consider this year’s alarming death toll and recognize the urgent need to reduce it.

“I know there are many people who won’t like the proposed changes, and who will see them as an inconvenience,” she said. “And they are an inconvenience, especially for kids who rely on cars to go to school or to jobs. But these proposals are about saving the lives of our kids, and as lawmakers that obviously has to be our priority.”