BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2464
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2464 (Huffman)
As Amended August 9, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |64-8 |(April 29, |SENATE: |26-3 |(August 12, |
| | |2010) | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS .
SUMMARY : Modifies statutes governing instruction permits and
provisional driver's licenses for minors.
The Senate amendments :
1)Strike provisions of existing law that authorize the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue an instruction
permit to a person over the age of 15 years that has not yet
completed driver training (i.e., behind the wheel training).
2)Strike and recast legislative findings and declarations
related to the inordinate rate of traffic accidents among
teenage drivers.
3)Strike proposed provisions that would require a person to
record, maintain, and submit a driving log showing that he or
she has completed 50 hours of supervised driving practice
prior to receiving a Certificate of Completion of
Behind-the-Wheel Driver Training; instead, reinstate the
requirement that an applicant for a provisional license must
submit certification that the required 50 hours of
behind-the-wheel training has been completed.
4)Requires a licensed driving school to provide a driving log
that a student may use to document his or her hours of
supervised driving time.
5)Direct DMV to explicitly state on the instruction permit that
a person must complete 50 hours of supervised driving
practice.
6)Resolve chaptering-out conflicts with AB 1952 (Niello).
AB 2464
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7)Make other related, non-substantive amendments.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows for the issuance of a provisional driver's license to a
person at least 16 years of age but less than 18 years of age,
under certain conditions including prior completion of 50
hours of supervised driving practice.
2)Prohibits a provisional license holder, 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.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, there is some confusion
among driving schools, parents, and teens as to whether a
provisional permit is valid before a teen completes a least the
first professional behind-the-wheel driving lesson. This bill
will explicitly clarify this requirement in an effort to ensure
parents do not allow their teens to practice driving prior to
completing professional training.
The author introduced a bill similar to AB 2464 last year. That
bill, AB 1220 (Huffman) would have required a person 16 to 24
years of age to submit to the DMV, upon application for a
driver's license, a driving log certifying that they have
completed 50 hours of supervised driving practice. According to
Assembly Appropriations Committee, AB 1220 would have resulted
in costs to DMV of about $500,000 annually in additional staff
time to review and verify driving logs. Consequently, the bill
died on the Appropriations Committee suspense file.
This bill seeks to address a well-documented problem-that is,
the disproportionate number of vehicle accidents that involve
novice drivers. Nationwide, youths 15 to 20 years old
represented 9% of the U.S. population in 2007 and 6% of the
licensed drivers; however, 19% of the fatalities in the United
States in 2007 were related to young-driver crashes and
teenagers in California have the highest average annual
collision and traffic offense rate in the country.
AB 2464
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Related legislation: AB 1952 (Niello) of 2010, requires teen
drivers with an instruction permit to take a motorcycle safety
course prior to riding a motorcycle. That bill passed out of
the Assembly on a vote of 74-0 and out of the Senate on a vote
of 31-3, and is currently awaiting Assembly concurrence in
Senate amendments.
Previous legislation: AB 1220 (Huffman) of 2009 was similar to
this bill. It died in Assembly Appropriations.
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0005824