BILL ANALYSIS �
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1113|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1113
Author: Frazier (D)
Amended: 8/13/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/25/13
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/19/13
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 65-6, 5/16/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Provisional drivers licenses: restrictions
SOURCE : Allstate Insurance Company
DIGEST : This bill expands, beginning January 1, 2015,
restrictions on provisional drivers license holders.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Establishes a provisional driver's license program for
individuals between 16 and 18 years of age.
2.Provides that prior to issuing a provisional license, the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) shall issue an instruction
CONTINUED
AB 1113
Page
2
permit, commonly referred to as a learner's permit.
3.Provides that the following individuals are eligible to apply
for a learner's permit:
A. An individual 15 years and six months of age or older
who has successfully completed approved driver education
and training classes, has completed driver education and is
enrolled in driver training, or is enrolled in an
integrated driver education and training program;
B. An individual 16 years of age who is applying to drive a
United States Army or National Guard vehicle; or
C. An individual 17 years and six months of age or older.
1.Provides that the learner's permit authorizes the individual
to a operate a motor vehicle only when he or she is either
taking a driver training class or is practicing under the
immediate supervision of a California licensed driver 25 years
or older whose driving privilege is not on probation. (The
age requirement does not apply if the supervising driver is
the parent, spouse, or guardian of the permit holder, or is a
certified driving instructor.)
2.Prohibits a learner's permit holder from applying for a
provisional driver's license until he or she has held the
permit for at least six months. Requires a permit holder,
prior to applying for a provisional driver's license, to
complete successfully:
A. Driver education and driver training classes, as
specified;
B. At least six hours of behind-the-wheel training;
C. 50 hours of supervised driving practice, including at
least 10 hours of nighttime driving; and
D. An exam required by DMV, which includes a written text
of the applicant's knowledge and understanding of laws
regarding the rules of the road; a test of the applicant's
ability to read and understand simple English used in
traffic and directional signs; a test of the applicant's
CONTINUED
AB 1113
Page
3
understanding of traffic signs and signals; a demonstration
of the applicant's driving ability; a hearing test; and a
vision test.
1.Prohibits, during the first 12 months, a provisional licensee
from driving between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. or
transporting passengers who are under 20 years of age, unless
accompanied by the provisional license holder's parent or
guardian, a licensed driver who is 25 years or older, or a
licensed or certified driving instructor.
2.Allows a provisional licensee to drive between 11 p.m. and 5
a.m. or transport an immediate family member without
supervision in specified cases of medical necessity, school
activities, job necessity, need to transport an immediate
family member, or if the licensee is an emancipated minor.
3.Allows an individual 18 years of age or older to apply for an
original driver's license by completing an application, giving
a thumbprint, having a picture taken, providing a social
security number, providing verification of birth date and
legal presence, paying an application fee, passing an eye
exam, and passing a traffic laws and sign test. DMV may issue
a permit once the individual completes these requirements.
4.Provides that an individual 18 years of age or older who holds
a permit must be accompanied by another individual 18 years or
older when practicing driving.
5. Provides that an individual may schedule a driving test at
DMV at any time once he or she has obtained a permit.
This bill, beginning January 1, 2015, places additional
conditions and restrictions on the driving privileges of minors
holding a provisional driver's license. Specifically, this
bill:
1.Increases, from six to nine months, the minimum time an
individual must hold an instruction permit before applying for
a provisional driver's license.
2.Provides that a provisional licensee is subject to certain
restrictions during the entire time she or he holds the
provisional license, not just during the first 12 months.
CONTINUED
AB 1113
Page
4
3.Expands by one hour the driving ban for provisional licensees,
to the hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
4.Raises by one year the age of passengers a provisional
licensee may transport, to 21 years of age.
5.Expands by one hour the period during which a provisional
licensee may transport an immediate family member without
supervision, as specified, to the hours between 10 p.m. and 5
a.m.
Background
Graduated driver's licenses . Every state has enacted a law or
laws making it more difficult for teenagers to obtain driver's
licenses, commonly referred to as graduated driver's licensing
(GDL). GDL aims to enable teens to gain valuable driving
experience in low-risk driving situations. The Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health has found that states with
strong GDL laws have reduced fatalities of 16-year-old drivers
by 11%.
Prior to 1998, California law allowed teenagers age 16 to 18
years to obtain a learner's permit or provisional driver's
license with only minimal restrictions, such as requiring an
individual to hold a learner's permit for at least 30 days
before applying for a provisional license. SB 1329 of 1997 (see
"Previous legislation" below) enacted the state's initial GDL
system.
Unintended consequences . While fatality and injury rates have
dropped significantly for 16- and 17-year-old drivers, some
research indicates that fatalities and injuries have increased
for 18-year-old drivers. In September 2011, the Journal of the
American Medical Association released a national study that
included 22 years of data from before and after establishment of
GDL programs in all states. The study found that strong GDL
programs were statistically associated with lower fatalities for
only 16-year-old drivers, while fatal crash rates were
statistically higher for 18-year-old drivers. While the study
indicated that more research is needed to fully understand these
results, it concluded that "studies need to examine crashes for
all ages from 16 through 19 years, not merely for 16- or
CONTINUED
AB 1113
Page
5
17-year-olds. Examining only crashes involving young teens
exaggerates the protective value of GDL by focusing only on
drivers who are sheltered during the learner and intermediate
licensing stages, overlooking the potential negative effect of
producing less experienced older teenaged drivers."
In addition, a growing number of teenagers are now waiting until
they turn 18 to obtain their driver's license, for a variety of
reasons including stricter licensing laws, higher gas prices,
changes in Generation Y's values and preferences, and the rise
of social media. California law does not require individuals 18
years or older to take driver's education and training classes,
which can run several hundred dollars. It also does not impose
a limit on how long an individual must hold a permit before he
or she can take a driving test.
MAP-21 compliance . In July 2012, Congress passed and President
Obama signed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century
Act (Public Law 112-41), known as MAP-21. This legislation
authorizes federal transportation funding to states through
September 30, 2014. Among other things, MAP-21includes
incentives for states to implement GDL systems by making states
that meet specified GDL provisions eligible for grants to
promote teenage driver safety. Although final regulations have
not yet been issued, it appears that California largely or fully
meets all the requirements except for a provision requiring
drivers to have a six-month period of conviction-free driving
prior to advancing from learner's permit to provisional license,
or from provisional license to full license. This bill includes
that provision to help ensure California's eligibility for teen
driver safety grants.
Prior Legislation
SB 1329 (Leslie, Chapter 760, Statutes of 1997) required teenage
drivers to hold a learner's permit for six months before
applying for a provisional driver's license and to complete 50
hours of supervised driving practice, including at least 10
hours of nighttime driving, before obtaining a provisional
license. It also prohibited provisional licensees, for the
first six months, from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. or
transporting passengers under 20 years of age, unless
accompanied by licensed driver who was the driver's parent or
guardian or a person 25 years or older authorized by the parent
CONTINUED
AB 1113
Page
6
or guardian.
AB 1474 (Maze, Chapter 337, Statutes of 2005), extended the bans
on nighttime driving and transporting passengers under 20 years
of age to 12 months, as well as expanding the nighttime ban to
the hours between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. (unless the driver has a
signed statement attesting to medical, job, school, or family
transportation purposes).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, one-time
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) costs of approximately
$100,000 to make necessary programming changes, and minor costs
to update forms and publications (Motor Vehicle Account).
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/21/13)
Allstate Insurance Company (source)
Association of California Insurance Companies
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
Impact Teen Drivers
Personal Insurance Federation of California
State Farm Insurance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states that while the
graduated driver licensing system has been effective in reducing
young novice driver crash rates, associated injuries, and
premature death to themselves and others, a significant teenage
driver safety problem remains. The author points to compelling
evidence that graduated driver licensing systems work. The
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and others note that
longer learner permit periods result in fewer teenage driver
fatalities, while additional driver education does not have a
significant impact. The author also notes the importance of
nighttime driving restrictions for teenage drivers; the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that
four out of every 10 teenage deaths in motor vehicles occur
between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. The author further notes that studies
show that the presence of passengers, particularly other
teenagers, significantly increases teenage drivers' risk of
severe or fatal crashes. A 2012 study by the AAA Foundation for
CONTINUED
AB 1113
Page
7
Traffic Safety found that having one passenger younger than 21
in the vehicle increased the driver death rate per mile driven
by 44% compared with driving alone.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 65-6, 05/16/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Dahle,
Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gomez,
Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Ting, Torres, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NOES: Ch�vez, Donnelly, Gatto, Hagman, Jones, Olsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Conway, Beth Gaines, Grove, Holden,
Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy
JA:nl 8/21/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED