Senator Vincent Leibell and Assemblywoman Sandy Galef have introduced two teenage driving bills in the New York Legislature. These bills would make the roads safer by encouraging teenagers to be safer drivers.
Senator Leibell stated, "Tragically, each year, there are hundreds of lives lost on the road due to inexperience. Our young drivers have not been required by law to put in the amount of practice that they truly need to protect themselves and others from careless mistakes. The intention behind this legislation is simply to increase supervised driving hours and limit the amount of passengers in a car until these young drivers has proven themselves responsible enough to handle various situations."
The first, bill A.2220/S.4698, would increase the number of required supervised driving hours from twenty to fifty hours prior to the issuance of a class DJ or class MJ license, or a limited class DJ or MJ. In addition, at least fifteen of those required hours would be during the period of sunset to nine o’clock in the evening. In 2004, 78% of the fatal crashes involving sixteen year olds behind the wheel occurred because of a driver error. These errors could be reduced with more supervised driving time.
The second bill, A.2221/S.4701, would prohibit inexperienced drivers from having other teenagers in the car unless accompanied by a licensed driver twenty-one years old or older. New York State law now limits teen drivers to two passengers under 21 per car unless supervised by someone over 21. But AAA is recommending that this be strengthened by prohibiting teen drivers from transporting other teen passengers for at least six months of their intermediate/probationary stage. This legislation puts that recommendation into action. This is a necessary step to protect the passengers, as well as the driver- many teenage drivers become distracted with friends in the car, and lose their focus on the road.
"These bills are vital to help further protect new drivers, as well as everyone else on the road," Galef stated. "Too many inexperienced drivers are on the road without having had enough practice, putting themselves and others at risk. There are numerous teenagers, passengers of teen drivers, and innocent bystanders who are hurt due to careless driving that could have been prevented with more practice and stricter rules regarding passengers with teen drivers."
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