BILL ANALYSIS
AB 508
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 508 (Torlakson) - As Introduced: February 24, 2009
SUBJECT : Provisional driver's licenses
SUMMARY : Adds a $10 fee for provisional driver's license
applications in order to fund driver education and training in
public schools. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations regarding California's
adoption of a graduated driver's licensing system, the
benefits of that system, the fact that motor vehicle crashes
continue to be the leading cause of death for teenage drivers,
the disproportionate fatality rate among younger drivers, and
limited funding for driver education and training in the
public schools.
2)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), in addition
to the fees already required to be paid, to charge and collect
a new fee of $10 for applications for provisional driver's
licenses for the purpose of funding automobile driver's
education and training programs.
3)Allows DMV to deduct its actual costs to collect and
administer the additional fee prior to depositing the
remaining funds into the Young Driver Education and Safety
Fund (YDESF).
4)Establishes the YDESF into which the fees are to be deposited
and from which they are to be allocated, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, to the Department of Education (CDE).
5)Requires CDE, in consultation with DMV, to expend moneys in
the YDESF first to support the YDESF Advisory Group and to
expend all remaining moneys in the YDESF to increase driver
education and training in the public schools, including, but
not limited to, providing grants to local educational agencies
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to provide driver education and training programs in the
public schools.
6)Requires DMV's actual costs for administering the grant
program to be paid from that allocation.
7)Grants priority for funding driver education and training
programs from this source to public schools where a minimum of
40% of the pupils in grades 9 to 12 are eligible for free or
reduced-cost meals through the school lunch program of the
United States Department of Agriculture.
8)Allows CDE to adopt regulations to implement these provisions.
9)Requires DMV and CDE to jointly establish the YDESF Advisory
Group consisting of local, state, and national experts on
highway safety and driver education and training for all of
the following purposes:
a) To assess and recommend strategies to improve access to
driver education and training, including potential sources
of funding for driver education and training programs;
b) To evaluate the effectiveness of current driver
education and training standards and curriculum and
recommend modifications to improve the effectiveness of
those standards and curriculum in reducing the fatality
rate among teenage drivers; and,
c) To review and make recommendations regarding the
regulation of private, Internet-based driver education
schools.
10)Requires DMV and CDE to request each of the following
entities to provide a representative to serve as a member of
the YDESF Advisory Group:
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a) California Highway Patrol;
b) DMV;
c) CDE;
d) Automobile Club of Southern California;
e) California State Automobile Association;
f) American Insurance Association;
g) Driving School Association of California;
h) California Teachers Association;
i) California District Attorneys Association;
j) California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations;
aa) California Association for Safety Education;
bb) Association of California School Administrators;
cc) National Transportation Safety Board; and,
dd) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
11)Allows DMV and CDE to request an entity that is not listed
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above to provide a representative to serve as a member of the
YDESF Advisory Group if DMV or CDE determines that
representation is necessary for the purposes of this statute.
12)Requires the members to meet and hold public hearings, as
necessary, to carry out the purposes of the group.
13)Requires the members to serve without compensation but allows
them to be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses at the
state per diem rate and for reasonable travel expenses to
attend meetings and hearings.
14)Subjects the members to the Political Reform Act of 1974 and
requires them to file a statement of economic interests with
the Fair Political Practices Commission.
15)Requires DMV and CDE to provide the YDESF Advisory Group with
the necessary facilities and administrative support.
16)Requires the YDESF Advisory Group, on or before January 1,
2012, to a report its findings to DMV, CDE, and the
chairpersons of the relevant legislative policy committees of
each house.
17)Requires moneys required to implement this statute to be made
available by CDE from the YDESF.
18)Sunsets this bill's provisions on January 1, 2013.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows a person, at age 15-1/2, to apply to DMV for an
instructional driving permit.
2)Allows a permittee, during the permit period, to operate a
motor vehicle only when accompanied by, and under the
immediate supervision of, a licensed California driver with a
valid license of appropriate class, 18 years of age or over
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whose driving privilege is not on probation.
3)Allows public and private secondary schools, as well as
driving schools licensed by DMV, to offer driver education and
training to meet the requirements of the provisional license.
4)Places driving instruction offered by public secondary schools
under the purview of CDE.
5)Requires public secondary schools to offer courses in driver
education and establishes standards for these courses. In
general, students are required to complete 30 hours of
classroom instruction and six hours or more of
behind-the-wheel training.
6)Requires internet-based driver education courses offered by
private secondary schools to be educationally equivalent to a
standardized curriculum approved by DMV. However, DMV is not
granted the statutory authority to assess the equivalency of
course offered by private secondary schools.
7)Requires DMV to license private driving schools and
instructors and approve the curricula used by the schools.
8)Grants DMV the authority to suspend or revoke the license of a
driving school or instructor for cause.
9)Establishes the Driver Training Penalty Assessment Fund for
the deposit of penalty assessments intended to reimburse the
General Fund for payments to public school districts for the
actual costs of providing driver training. (Pursuant to the
annual Budget Act in recent years, a portion of those funds
has not been used for driver training and instead has been
distributed to the Victim-Witness Assistance Fund, the Peace
Officers' Training Fund, and the General Fund.)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to an Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis of similar legislation last year, the
following costs were identified:
1)One-time costs, in the range of $200,000 in 2008-09, for DMV
to develop the collection and remittance process for the new
$10 fee on provisional driver licenses. These costs are
reimbursed from a portion of revenue generated by the fee.
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2)Ongoing costs, in the range of $75,000 annually starting in
2008-09 through 2012-13, for DMV to collect and remit the $10
fee. These costs are covered from a portion of revenue
generated by the fee.
3)Ongoing costs, in the range of $160,000 in 2009-10 through
2011-12, to support the activities of the YDESF Advisory
Group. These costs are covered by a portion of revenue
generated by the fee.
4)Costs of about $110,000 annually from 2009-10 through 2012-13,
to CDE to develop and administer the driver education and
training grant program. These costs are covered by a portion
of revenue generated by the fee.
5)Revenue in the range of $750,000 in 2008-09, $2.1 million from
2009-10 through 2011-12, and $1 million in 2012-13, generated
by the new $10 fee on provisional driver licenses.
6)Costs of about $2.1 million in 2009-10, and $1.7 million from
2009-10 through 2012-13, to provide grants to schools to
enhance driving programs.
The analysis also noted: After deducting DMV's initial and
ongoing costs, the costs to support the YDESF Advisory Group,
and the CDE's costs to administer the grant program, about $1.7
million annually would be available for grants to schools to
enhance driving programs. If grants were provided to each of
California's 1,182 high schools, the average grant amount would
be only $1,438. If grants were provided to the 300 high schools
that need driving program funding the most, the average grant
would still only be $5,667. While this bill provides grant
priority to high schools in low-income communities, it is
unlikely a grant of this amount would have much of an impact on
a school's driving program, let alone an impact on the teen
driver fatality rate, since lack of comprehensive driving
programs in high schools is only one contributing factor.
COMMENTS : This bill is essentially a reintroduction of the
author's SB 1114 from last year. That bill passed both the
Senate and this committee but died on Suspense in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
The author notes that, "Teen-age drivers in California continue
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to die, suffer serious injuries and cause accidents at a greater
rate than other age groups, despite a decade of increasingly
stricter requirements for licensing young drivers. At the same
time, many public high schools have dropped mandatory driver
education classes because of funding shortfalls."
He points to declining teen enrollment in high school driver
education classes, with 19,226 students enrolled in 2006-07,
down from 48,000 students in 1997. "Although 1,220 high schools
are licensed to offer driver education, only 304 still teach the
subject. Just seven public high schools offer behind-the-wheel
training."
The California Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) developed
pursuant to the 2005 federal legislation noted that "newly
licensed young drivers with less than one year of driving
experience have the highest crash rate of any driver group.
While young drivers constitute less than 6% of California's
licensed drivers, they accounted for an average of 21% of
traffic fatalities from 2002 to 2004." The SHSP report also
points out that one barrier to reducing the number of fatalities
attributed to drivers age 15 to 20 is "limited funding for
education and driver training in public schools."
The author believes that limited funding for drivers training
classes in California public schools, coupled with expensive
private courses, could be contributing to a negative trend, as
witnessed through increased crash rates among 18-year olds. "It
is possible that more teens are waiting until they are 18 to get
their license to save the money that they would have to pay to
take private driving school courses." Analysis of state date
found only 14% of first-year eligible teens had a license in
2006 down from 22% in 1996.
Currently, private drivers training courses range in costs from
$200 to $400. By age 18, new drivers are not required to take
any driving instructions, either in class or behind the wheel.
They are required to pass DMV test before they can drive. The
author adds, "Having more drivers training courses available to
our teens is critical not only to their personal safety but that
of the general public as well."
The California Association for Safety Education (CASE), in
supporting this bill, cites both a National Transportation
Safety Board recommendation that driver education be revisited
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since current standards and practices were framed on highway
transportation conditions that existed many years ago, as well
as Caltrans' Final Draft Strategic Highway Safety Plan which
noted that "reducing young driver crashes is one of the three
most effective strategies the state can implement to improve
highway safety." Currently, CASE points out, only about 25% of
our public high schools offer driver education.
Writing in opposition to this bill, the Driving School
Association of California (DSAC) contends that "It is clear that
the limited funds made available by your proposed $10 fee is
grossly inadequate to provide the training necessary to develop
safe, competent teen drivers, particularly after you factor in
the cost of purchasing specially modified training vehicles and
the cost of maintenance, repairs and fuel." DSAC also believes
the bill relies on a driver education and training regimen that
is "grossly inadequate and out of step with reality?the 30 hours
of driver education and 6 hours of behind-the-instruction
(required by California law) were arbitrarily established 60
years ago and cannot reasonably transform a teenage non-driver
into a safer driver."
Currently, DMV issues approximately 216,000 provisional licenses
annually. By imposing an additional $10 fee, it is estimated
that this bill would generate approximately $2.2 million
annually. According to prior fiscal analyses, if the net
revenues were divided evenly among all 1,132 high schools in
California, each school would receive about $1,438 per year, a
figure substantially inadequate to bring significant expansion
to driving programs. Thus, this bill targets low-income area
schools, whose students may be unable to afford private driving
lessons. However, according to those same analyses, limiting
the funding to the state's 300 neediest high schools would still
only provide for annual grants of less than $6,000 per school.
Limiting fund distributions to still fewer schools could raise
equity issues as the revenue would have been derived from fees
charged to student-drivers from throughout the state.
Related legislation : AB 2107 (Mullin) of 2008, would have
required a provisional driver's license applicant under the age
of 18, along with all other required documentation, to submit
proof that they are enrolled in high school, have graduated from
high school, are employed, demonstrate a need to provide
transportation for family members, or are an emancipated minor,
before a provisional is issued. That bill was held in the
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Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 2414 (Fuller) of 2008, would have authorized a local or
county school attendance review board to recommend that DMV
suspend the learner's permit or driver's license of a pupil who
is less than 18 years of age and has not completed the
requirements for graduation from high school, is enrolled in a
school but has not attended school for 15 consecutive days or 20
total days in one semester or has been deemed an habitual truant
pursuant to a specified statutory provision, and has no record
of transferring between schools. That bill was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 285 (Runner) of 2007), would have imposed stronger sanctions
on drivers who violate the terms of the provisional license.
That bill failed passage on the Senate Floor.
AB 2175 (Liu) of 2006, would have required DMV to establish a
Teenage Driver Education and Training Advisory Committee and to
enter into contracts for the design and evaluation of a model
driver education and training program. That bill was vetoed by
the Governor Schwarzenegger who suggested that "although the
intent of this bill was supported, it was unnecessary, since DMV
was already working with the Department of Transportation in the
development of a Strategic Highway Safety Plan pursuant to
recent federal law."
AB 204 (Lowenthal) of-2001, would have required that all funds
transferred to the Driver Penalty Assessment Fund, which would
otherwise be transferred to the General Fund, be appropriated on
an annual basis to the CDE for the purposes of providing driver
training instruction in the public schools. That bill was held
in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Author's amendments : The author is proposing to amend the bill
to push its operative dates out by one year and to add the
California State Parent Teacher Association to the advisory
group that the bill would establish.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association for Safety Education
California State PTA
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California Teachers Association
Los Angeles Unified School District
Letters from two individuals
Opposition
Driving School Association of California
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093