Bill, I have fine regard for you, so understand I'm disagreeing with your position, not you.

Aircraft are not cars, and new pilots are not new drivers. Equating the two is a false line of thought.

First, it's three cross country flights, the same as for Private Pilots. The required distances are shorter for Sport Pilots, as the aircraft are slower. All are done in daytime VFR. Distance itself is actually immaterial from the safety standpoint, as the critical tasks where the bulk of accidents happen - on takeoff and landing - are exactly the same. If one engine-outs five miles from an airport or fifty miles from the airport while in transit it's exactly the same problem. By the logic you're putting forward a short hop to close airfield is safer than a flight across the state, and we both know that it's not true. The only difference is the amount of time spent straight and level.

Second, the Sport Pilot already has limitations put on him that a newly minted automobile driver doesn't. There is no Daytime Only in Good Weather restriction for a driver's license. When a 16 year old gets a driver's license he's blessed off to drive at night, in rain, snow, on ice, etc., nor (at least in my state) is there any restriction on the number of passengers he can have in the vehicle. The Sport Pilot is always restricted to just one passenger.

The inherent restrictions on Sport Pilots are much more stringent than those of someone with a driver's license.

Navigation by VOR is not required for Sport Pilots, nor is it on the written test. It falls under instruments. Sport Pilots, flying in Daytime VFR below the clouds are expected to be able to navigate by compass and dead reckoning. This makes senese because, hey, it's daytime VFR below the clouds. The ground must be in view at all times. Use of aids such as the VOR (if the plane is equipped) or GPS is allowed on the cross country flights and the check ride, though.

As to the written test, yes, it's shorter. There are no questions about controlled airspace, night flying, instrument flight, etc., as there are no need for them for a Sport Pilot since he is not allowed to fly under those conditions in the first place. A Sport Pilot must get an additional rating for controlled airspace - why would it be on the written test?

I obtained my Sport Pilot certificate at 26 hours, six hours over the minimum. I had demonstrated to my instructor and an evaluator that I was proficient in all phases of flight in light, simple aircraft in daytime VFR conditions. There were already a pile of restrictions placed on my based on my type of certificate to begin with. If I wasn't safe to carry a single passenger then they shouldn't have given me the ticket in the first place.