BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2322


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          Date of Hearing:  April 11, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION


                                 Jim Frazier, Chair


          AB 2322  
          (Chu) - As Introduced February 18, 2016


          SUBJECT:  Vehicles:  instruction permits:  decals


          SUMMARY:  Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to  
          provide the recipient of a driver's instruction permit with a  
          removable and transferrable decal that reads "student driver"  
          and authorizes the holder of the permit to display the decal on  
          the side or rear window of the vehicle when driving.


          EXISTING LAW:


          1)Authorizes DMV to issue an instruction permit to operate a  
            motor vehicle subject to certain limitations to a person 15  
            years and 6 months of age or older.


          2)Authorizes DMV to issue a provisional driver's license to a  
            person at least 16 years of age but under 18 years of age who  
            has held an instruction permit for not less than 6 months and  
            has completed 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training and an  
            additional 50 hours of supervised driving practice.


          3)Prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle with any  








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            object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or  
            applied upon the windshield or side or rear windows, except  
            under certain conditions.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown


          COMMENTS:  Under existing law, a person at least 15 years and 6  
          months of age may apply for, and be issued a driver's  
          instruction permit.  With this permit, the person may only drive  
          a motor vehicle when accompanied by a person over the age of 18  
          who has a valid California driver's license and is riding in the  
          passenger seat.  The driver with the instruction permit must  
          complete 6 hours of behind-the-wheel driver training and an  
          additional 50 hours of supervised driving practice before being  
          issued a provisional driver's license.


          This bill would require DMV to provide the recipient of an  
          instruction permit with a removable and transferrable decal that  
          reads "student driver" when issuing the permit.  The student  
          driver may then display the decal on the side or rear windows of  
          the vehicle that they are driving in order to alert other  
          drivers on the road that the vehicle is being driven by a  
          student driver.


          This bill is intended to alleviate the hazardous situations  
          novice drivers find themselves in when first learning to drive.   
          The author states that teen drivers are more of a risk of an  
          accident than older drivers because they tend to underestimate  
          or not recognize dangerous situations.  According to the Centers  
          for Disease Control and Prevention, 2,163 teens ages 16-19 were  
          killed in motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2013,  
          and 243,243 were treated for injuries.  The author intends that,  
          by alerting other motorists to a novice driver's presence, the  
          student driver decals created by this bill will encourage other  
          drivers to give the novice driver more space and treat them with  








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          greater deference.  This will in turn encourage student drivers  
          to feel more comfortable and make the state's roadways safer by  
          reducing the number of dangerous situations that result in  
          fatalities and injuries.


          The author also cites a New Jersey law that requires a person  
          who has been issued a provisional driver's license to affix a  
          decal to the rear license plate of the vehicle being driven to  
          alert the authorities and others that the driver was a novice.   
          Although that law was criticized for potentially allowing law  
          enforcement to target vehicles bearing a decal, a 2014 study  
          conducted by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found  
          that road crashes among teen drivers decreased by 9.5% in the  
          law's first two years of implementation.


          It is unknown if AB 2322 will have a similar effect in  
          California.  The New Jersey law applied to people with a  
          provisional driver's license, who would not be included in this  
          bill.  While New Jersey provisional driver's license holders  
          benefited from displaying decals, those drivers were also not  
          subject to the same restrictions that instruction permit holders  
          in California have, namely being prohibited from driving at all  
          without an older licensed driver in the vehicle.  While decals  
          might help a young driver keep space between other vehicles on  
          the road while driving alone or deter them from unlawfully  
          driving with other young passengers in the vehicle, it is  
          unknown if there will be a material benefit to allowing drivers  
          who are already supervised by a parent or driving instructor to  
          display the same type of information.  No data on crashes or  
          incidents involving instruction permit holders in California is  
          readily available.  However, if the decal program established by  
          this bill were successful, it would likely by evidenced by a  
          decrease in traffic accidents involving people who have been  
          issued an instruction driving permit.


          Because drivers with an instruction driving permit would not be  








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          required to display the decals, it is unknown how widespread the  
          practice of displaying the decals would become.  However,  
          requiring the decals would likely raise similar concerns to  
          those raised in New Jersey relating to privacy and fear of being  
          targeted by law enforcement.


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          None on file




          Opposition


          None on file




          Analysis Prepared by:Justin Behrens / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093


















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