Graduated Driver's License Restrictions
Introduction
Few
issues affect Missouri teenagers as directly as those
concerning their driving habits. With a driver's license comes
increased freedom and mobility. Unfortunately, there is a
price--according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle
Administrators, approximately 1/3 of all deaths among 15-20 year olds
are the result of a motor vehicle accident. Several statistics
highlight the increased risk that a teenage driver faces behind the
wheel.
Missouri legislators are forced to weigh the rights and freedoms
of teens with the increased risk of injuries. In recent years, the
state has implemented a graduated driver's licensing program (GDL),
designed to ease teens into driving situations and give them plenty of
practice before allowing them to drive solo.
Now Missouri legislators are proposing more restrictions in the GDL
program to protect the safety of teenage drivers, their passengers and
others on Missouri roads. These legislators claim that by requiring
more behind-the-wheel practice time before an intermediate license is
obtained, teens will be better prepared for a variety of driving
scenarios. In addition, by limiting the number of passengers a teenage
driver may transport for the duration of the intermediate license,
legislators say that teens will be subject to fewer distractions on the
road and will be better prepared to drive responsibly. However, some
Missouri teenagers oppose these changes and see them as unnecessary
restrictions on their freedoms.
Bill
Information and Links
HB 1541
Sponsored by Rep.
Neal St. Onge and co-sponsored by Rep.
Patricia Yaeger, Rep.
Dennis Wood, Rep.
Sam Page, Rep.
Tim Meadows, Rep.
Terry Swinger and Rep.
Wes Wagner
This bill would require an increase in the amount of behind-the-wheel
driving time required in the instruction permit phase prior to
obtaining an intermediate license. Forty hours would be required under
this legislation, ten of them nighttime driving hours. This is
increased from the current requirement of 20 hours.
In addition, after obtaining an intermediate license, the teen driver
would be restricted in the first six months to transporting no more
than one passenger under the age of 19 who is not an immediate family
member of the driver. After the first six months and for the remainder
of the intermediate driver's license, the driver may transport no more
than three passengers under the age of 19 who are not immediate family
members of the driver.
The bill was introduced in
January and referred to the House Transportation Committee in February.
UPDATE:
This bill was combined with HB1378, HB1379 and HB1391 in early March. Click here for the substitute bill HB1378.
SB1001
Sponsored by Sen.
John Griesheimer
This bill involves a few different motor vehicle issues, but the
portion pertaining to graduated licensing restrictions proposes changes
identical to the ones above. An exception is made for anyone operating
a vehicle for agricultural purposes.
This bill was introduced to the Senate in February. The section
pertaining to intermediate driver's licenses came when the original
bill was combined with SB896. The bill passed the Senate Transportation
Committee in February and was passed
by the entire Senate by a vote of 30-2 on March 2. The bill now moves
to the House.
UPDATE:
This bill was referred to the House Transportation Committee on March 16.
Public Opinion
Several organizations and companies support graduated driver's license programs in general, including MADD, The American Association of Family Physicians, AAA, Ford Motor Company and more. However, support for this specific legislation is unknown.
Most adults support limitations on teen drivers and their passengers.
Furthermore, the legislation does not limit the number of family
members that a teen driver may transport while holding an intermediate
driver's license, so family transportation will be unaffected.
On the other hand, most teens view the proposed restrictions as
unnecessary limits to their personal freedoms. They are likely more
opposed to passenger restrictions than the proposed increase in
behind-the-wheel instruction prior to obtaining the intermediate
license.
What's
Happening in Other States
Approximately 46
states have implemented graduated licensing programs of some sort, and
approximately 33 states and the District of Columbia have implemented
passenger restrictions of some sort in the intermediate phase.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety/Highway Loss Data
Institute offers a very comprehensive overview of each state's
graduated driver's license restrictions.
Helpful Links
News stories on
the proposed legislation
Springfield
News-Leader Editorial (2-22-06)
Columbia Missourian (2-8-06)
KSDK
Channel 5-St. Louis (1-18-06)
USA Today (2-28-05)
Other
Links
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: New Drivers
Information on graduated driver's license laws and other teen driving issues.
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators: Graduated Driver Licensing
Information on current graduated driver licensing laws, along with facts and statistics on teen driving.
National Conference of State Legislatures: Teen Drivers
A national overview on state laws concerning graduated driver's license laws.
AAA: Behind the Wheel
Facts and statistics on teen driving specific to the state of Missouri.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Traffic Crash Statistics
Provides information on traffic crashes in Missouri through 2004. One
section provides statistics for accidents involving "young drivers"
under the age of 21.
Drive Home Safe: Graduated Driver License Info center
An overview of typical graduated driver's license laws and links for safe teen driving.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety/Highway Loss Data Institute
Statistics on teenage driver accidents, as well as a national overview and rating system of state driver's license laws. Missouri's current system received a "fair" rating.
Reporting
Tips
Why this story is worth
reporting
Nearly every high school student is
affected in some way by restrictions on teen driving, whether drivers
themselves or passengers with another teen driver. Under the
proposed legislation, teenagers would face significant changes in their
driving privileges from the moment they obtain their instruction permit
until they turn 18. The legislation not only impacts teenage drivers,
but the passengers that they transport.
While the proposed legislation is
most likely not well-received among teenagers, statistics concerning
teenage driving accidents and their decline in the presence of
graduated licensing laws cannot be denied.
This issue is both relevant and
newsworthy to high school students, and a news story would increase
awareness, discussion and debate on the issue among teenagers.
Interesting facts
According to a AAA news release, 74% of Americans support laws limiting the number of passengers a relatively new driver may transport.
According to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, approximately a third of all deaths among 15-20 year olds are a result of motor vehicle accidents.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol,
approximately 200 people were killed in Missouri in 2004 as the result
of traffic accidents involving young drivers (under age 21).
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, youth age 15-20 make up only 7% of the driving population but are involved in 14% of all traffic fatalities.
Many more statistics such as these can be found in the helpful links section above.
Who
to Interview
Find out how many high school
students are even aware of the proposed legislation. Obtain their
reactions to the proposed restrictions. If they oppose the
restrictions, what do they say when presented with the facts concerning
teen driving risks?
Talk to your local police
department and see if facts and statistics are available for your area
concerning accidents involving teenage drivers. How much of a problem
is it in your community?
In some instances, teenagers
involved in accidents can provide a unique insight into how the
accident occurred. Were there too many passengers in the car? Was the
driver focused on the responsibility of driving? Do those involved in
prior accidents support or oppose the proposed changes?
Talk to parents of teenagers in
your community and find out if the proposed restrictions would ease
their worries when their children were on the road.
Remember that another important
part of this legislation is the required amount of driving time in the
instruction permit phase. Talk to high school students who have
recently obtained their instruction permit or intermediate license.
Find out how much driving time they are actually getting. Is any of it
at nighttime?
Sidebar/Infographic/Photo
Ideas
An informal poll among high school
students' awareness and/or reactions to the proposed changes. Be sure
to differentiate between the increased instruction time and the
passenger restriction portions of the legislation.
If you are able to obtain accident
statistics in your area for teenage driver crashes, turn them into a
graph or sidebar. Oftentimes, it is interesting to compare these
statistics to other numbers you can find--for example, "In 2004,
Missouri accidents involving a driver under the age of 21 resulted in
the deaths of approximately 200 people. That is equal to this
school's entire senior class."
Photos of teenagers killed in car
crashes involving teen drivers can provide an emotional connection to
the issue. Just be sure to keep the reporting balanced--remember that
the news item is the debate over the proposed changes, not the accident
itself.
MoStuGov