BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1220
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 1220 (Huffman) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
SUBJECT : Vehicles: supervised driving: young drivers
SUMMARY : Requires a person 16 to 24 years of age to submit a
driving log provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
certifying that they have completed 50 hours of supervised
driving practice upon application for a driver's license.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that on or after January 1, 2011, a driver's license
can be issued to a person at least 18 years of age but under
25 years of age, only if the person has completed 50 hours of
supervised driving practice, including no less than 10 hours
of driving during darkness.
2)Requires that upon application of a driver's license, a person
at least 18 years of age but under 25 year's of age must
submit to DMV the supervised driving log, certifying that the
applicant has completed the required amount of driving
practice and is prepared to take the DMV driving test. This
requirement of maintaining a driving log does not apply to
motorcycle practice.
3)Requires a person at least 16 years of age but less than 18
years of age to record and maintain a supervised driving log,
provided by DMV, in the vehicle while the person is
practicing. Upon application for a provisional license, the
person is to submit the driving log and the certification of a
parent, spouse, guardian, or licensed, or certified driving
instructor verifying that requirements have been met.
4)Allows a California licensed driver age 18 or older that has
held a valid license for at least one year to serve as an
immediate supervisor to a provisional license holder.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows for the issuance of a driver's license to a person at
least 16 years of age but less than 18 years of age pursuant
to specified requirements. One of these requirements is
AB 1220
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completion of 50 hours of supervised driving practice prior to
the issuance of a provisional license.
2)Allows a person with an instructional permit issued by DMV to
operate a motor vehicle when accompanied and supervised by a
California licensed driver who, among other things, is 18
years of age or over, and whose driving privilege is not on
probation.
3)Prohibits a licensee during the first 12 months after issuance
of a license from driving during the hours of 11 p.m. and 5
a.m. or from transporting passengers who are under 20 years of
age, except as provided.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill intends to address
the disproportionate number of vehicle accidents that involve
novice driver's ages 16 to 24, who represented one out of every
four fatal vehicle accidents in 2007. This bill idea originally
developed by constituents of the author and a subsequent winner
of the author's "there oughta be a law contest," was spurred by
a tragic event that involved the death of two teenagers,
including an 18-year old, inexperienced driver.
Currently, over 900,000 teenagers, age 15-19, possess a driver's
license in California. In 2003, this segment of the population
was involved in 543 fatal collisions and 38,083 collisions that
resulted in injury. Teenagers in California have the highest
average annual collision and traffic offense rate in the
country.
Safety advocates stress 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. Only 304 schools out of an estimated 1,221 California
high schools licensed to offer such courses do so, with a total
enrollment of 19,226 teens in 2007, down from 48,000 teens in
1997. Coincidently, a decline of over 3,400 provisional
drivers' licenses being issued from 2005 to 2007, may point to
the fact that more teens are waiting until they are 18 years of
age to get a license since they are no longer required by law to
take classes to obtain a license.
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The Sonoma County Provisional License Action Network (PLAN),
sponsor of this bill, indeed believe that "more and more young
adults each year are waiting to get their drivers licenses until
age 18 to save money and to obtain a license on a fast track.
With little experience behind the wheel, these new drivers can
legally drive a car on the same day that they get their
license."
Under existing law, new drivers age 18 or older are not required
to take any driving instructions, either in class or behind the
wheel. They are required to pass the DMV test before they can
drive. Conversely, young drivers 16 and 17 year olds are
required to complete 50 hours of driving instruction before
taking a driving exam.
This bill seeks to address the lack of driving experience that
driver's over the age of 18 and under the age of 24 is required
to demonstrate before being able to obtain a driver's license.
The author believes that this bill represents a modest approach
towards verifying that a potential licensed driver have behind
the wheel training before being able to drive on the state's
roadways.
Moreover, the author points to a March 2006 report by the
Traffic Safety Center, which suggests that practice behind the
wheel dramatically reduces crash rates for new drivers. "After
six to 12 months or 500-1500 miles of driving, there is up to a
65% decrease in at-fault crashes." It is believed that this
approach would be encouraged through this bill and its potential
beneficial effects.
Committee comments :
1)This bill specifies that a provisional driver between 16 and
18 years of age is required to maintain a driving log provided
by DMV, documenting their required training. A person at
least 18 years of age but less than 25 years of age is also
required to complete 50 hours of supervised training and
submit their DMV issued driving log. It is uncertain how DVM
costs to provide the driving log will be covered?
2)This bill contains no mechanism to prevent fraudulent behavior
from occurring or verifying the authenticity of the provided
information.
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3)This bill may not lead to better trained teenage drivers'. It
is conceivable that an applicant can claim that their 50 hours
of training were completed over a three day period and then be
allowed to take the test. This process does not ensure that
quality instruction has taken place. Thus, a teenager may or
may not be better prepared under this bill as compared to the
current process.
4)This bill would allow a person age 18 or older who has held a
valid license for at least one year to supervise the required
training. This is counterintuitive and essentially allows a
peer to serve as a supervisor, contrary to study
recommendations that show distraction driving patterns occur
when drivers are in a car with peers.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Sonoma County Provisional License Action Network (Sponsor)
Driving School Association of California, INC (Support if
amended)
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Alejandro Esparza / TRANS. / (916)
319-2093