BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 2464
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: huffman
VERSION: 6/7/10
Analysis by: Jennifer Gress FISCAL: no
Hearing date: June 15, 2010
SUBJECT:
Instruction permits
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires that drivers under the age of 18 complete
driver education and training prior to obtaining an instruction
permit, clarifies the minimum age of a person that may accompany
a permittee, and requires that the instruction permit state
explicitly that a permittee must complete 50 hours of supervised
driving practice.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle
upon the highway unless he or she holds a valid driver's
license.
For persons under the age of 18, the road to a driver's license
entails two steps: the instruction permit, which the permittee
must hold for a minimum of six months, and the provisional
driver's license, which is subject to certain restrictions.
Persons 18 years of age or older are not required to hold an
instruction permit and are not subject to the restrictions of a
provisional license prior to obtaining a driver's license.
In order for the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue an
instruction permit, an applicant must meet one of the following
criteria:
The person is age 15 years and 6 months or older and has
successfully completed approved courses in driver education
(i.e., classroom instruction) and training (i.e.,
behind-the-wheel training).
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The person is age 15 years and 6 months or older and has
successfully completed driver education and is in the process
of taking driver training. In practice, DMV will issue a
permit after a person has completed driver education stating
that the permit is not valid until the person has completed at
least one class of behind-the-wheel training.
The person is age 15 years and 6 months or older and is
enrolled and participating in an integrated driver education
and training program.
The person is over the age of 16 years and is applying for a
restricted Class C license in order to operate vehicles for
the United States or California National Guard.
The person is over the age of 17 years and 6 months, after
which age there is no requirement that a person complete
driver education and training.
In general, an instruction permit is valid for a period of 24
months and entitles the permittee to operate a motor vehicle,
other than a motorcycle, motorized scooter, or a motorized
bicycle. Some restrictions imposed on the instruction permit,
however, vary according to the age of the permittee.
Permittees 18 years of age and over must be accompanied by a
person who is 18 years of age or over and who has a valid
California driver's license. Permittees under the age of 18, on
the other hand, must hold the instruction permit for at least 6
months and complete 50 hours of driving practice, 10 of which
must be during the hours of darkness, supervised by a person who
is 25 years of age or older and who has a valid California
driver's license. Additionally, these permittees may not
operate a motor vehicle until he or she begins taking
behind-the-wheel instruction.
This bill makes several changes to the requirements for
obtaining and holding an instruction permit. Specifically, the
bill:
Requires that drivers under the age of 18 complete driver
education and training prior to obtaining an instruction
permit.
Makes consistent, at 25, the minimum age requirement of a
person who must accompany a permittee while he or she drives.
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Requires that the instruction permit state explicitly that a
permittee must complete 50 hours of supervised driving
practice.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, teenage drivers in
California continue to die, suffer serious injuries, and cause
accidents at a greater rate than any other age group despite a
decade of increasingly stricter requirements for licensing
young drivers. Furthermore, motor vehicle crashes continue to
be the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year-olds,
accounting for 21 percent of California's traffic fatalities,
even though this age group constitutes less than 6 percent of
California's licensed drivers.
Numerous studies support the conclusion that a substantial
part of the problem lies with a new driver's lack of
experience. For example, one analysis of police reports of
almost 2,000 crashes in which newly licensed drivers were
involved pointed to inexperience as the major contributor
(McKnight and McKnight, 2003). Research shows that teen crash
rates drop with increased driving experience, whether measured
by miles or months (UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center).
California only requires a teenager to complete one day of
behind-the-wheel training before being eligible to start
practice-driving. The author contends that in a typical
situation where a six-hour behind-the-wheel course is divided
into three two-hour classes, a student will spread the
required six hours of driver training over several months,
sometimes separating each two-hour class by two or three
months and taking the final two-hour segment close to the end
of the six-month permit period.
The author argues that putting a teenager behind the wheel of
a car after only two hours of professional driving practice is
not only unreasonable, it is dangerous. Furthermore, parents
are not professional instructors and may inadvertently teach
their teen poor driving habits. Other parents may be fearful
or have little patience to teach their teens how to operate a
vehicle, while some may not have the time. Finally, when
teens practice with parents for extended periods of time and
then return to the driving school to complete behind-the-wheel
instruction, instructors find themselves spending considerable
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time trying to reverse the bad driving habits taught to them
by their parents.
The author argues that if the full six hours of professional
driver training were required before DMV issued an instruction
permit, teens would have the instruction they need to handle a
car properly and understand their responsibilities as drivers,
tools which would be reinforced while practicing. Parents may
also feel safer practicing with their teens, leading to more
experience behind the wheel. If teens are properly trained
before they start practice-driving, accident and death rates
will inevitably decline.
2.Age of accompanying adult . Current law contains two different
ages --18 and 25 -- for persons who may accompany and
supervise a driver with an instruction permit. The age of 18
was established in 1957 and applies to permittees 18 years of
age or older. The age of 25 was added in a separate code
section in 1992 when the Legislature established the
provisional licensing program. It applies to permittees under
the age of 18. Making consistent the age of the accompanying
adult raises the question of whether the age of 25 may pose
too high a standard and preclude opportunities for more
practice driving. Older siblings, relatives, and friends of
the family may be in a position to provide a new driver with
additional opportunities to practice his or her driving. Is a
lower age more appropriate? Persons who are 21 years of age
or older, for example, have significant driving experience and
bear many important rights and responsibilities. For this
reason, the author or committee may wish to amend the bill to
establish the age of the accompanying adult at 21.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 64-8
Trans: 12-1
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 9, 2010)
SUPPORT: California Fire Chiefs Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Driving School Association of California, Inc.
Fire Districts Association of California
OPPOSED: None received.
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