When a government program accomplishes its legislative purpose, benefiting the populace or making the state safer, it is cause for celebration. So Kentuckians should compliment former Rep. Mike Bowling for his 1996 bill instituting tougher drivers license regulations. Crashes involving 16-year-old drivers have dropped more than 33 percent since the 1996 bill passed. The number of alcohol-related accidents for teenagers dropped about 30 percent in the same period. All total, the number of accidents involving 16-year-old drivers averaged 6,493 a year from 1993 to 1995 but fell to 3,984 last year. That means the states roads are safer places to drive, a plus for all citizens. The 1996 law, known as the Graduated Drivers License program, instituted among other things a six-months learners license, mandatory four-hour drivers education classes and a zero-tolerance of blood alcohol in drivers under age 21.At the time the measure passed, Kentucky teens had held the highest motor vehicle accident fatality rate in the nation for three years. In addition to the lives saved, the financial savings to the state since 1995 have been about $22.2 million. What is surprising is that Kentucky did not have such regulations before 1996.Before you allow a teenager to take control of a 2,000-pound vehicle, it helps if he has training and knows such things as, well, what road signs mean. There have been a few suggestions that states should make high school graduation mandatory to obtain a drivers license. If teenagers know they wont get a license unless they graduate, they will buckle down and study. In fact, parents will be surprised at the good grades of their offspring, the theory goes. It may be a bit extreme to require a high school diploma before a teenager can get a drivers license, but mandating tougher license regulations in Kentucky clearly was a benefit to both teenagers and the state.