SB 1347 Teenage Drivers' Safety Act could save lives

On Jan. 25, Senate Bill 1347 ‹ the Teenage Driver Safety Act ‹ was introduced to the 48th Legislature of Arizona by Senators Barbara Left and Ron Gould. Joining in support of this issue are law enforcement, public-safety advocates, the insurance industry, medical organizations and child-safety advocates.

SB 1347 limits the number of teens that can travel in a vehicle to reduce the possibility of driver distraction. The bill also prohibits teens from driving in the middle of the night. According to Leff, these are reasonable restrictions that have proven to reduce car accidents among young, new drivers in other states.

Currently, Arizona is one of only five states without an intermediate teen driver program. States that have adopted this approach have seen reductions in teen-related incidents by as much as 30 percent. Late last year, the American Automobile Association released the results of an opinion poll that showed three out of four Arizona residents want stronger teen driving laws.

"Car crashes are the number one killer of children and teenagers in Arizona and nationwide," said Linda Gorman, AAA Arizona public affairs manager. "This issue affects not just teenagers, but everyone on the road, since three out of four fatalities involving teen drivers are not the teen drivers themselves. In Arizona from 1995 to 2005, more than 700 people have been killed in crashes involving teen drivers. The sad fact is that many of these deaths were preventable."

If enacted, SB 1347:

• Changes the instruction permit time frames so that a permit could be issued to an individual, who is 15 years and six months old. Currently, individuals ages 15 years and seven months old, can obtain an instruction permit.

• Increases the hours of supervised training necessary to obtain a driver license from 25 hours to 30 hours, of which six must be during nighttime driving conditions.

• Requires an instruction permittee to be accompanied by a licensed individual who is at least 21 years of age.

• Establishes nighttime driving restrictions (midnight to 5 a.m.) for the first six months that a class G licensee holds the class G license and provides exemptions to the restrictions for employment, religious or school activities. 

• Limits the number of non-family, teenage passengers in the vehicle to no more than one passenger for the first six months that a class G licensee holds the class G license.

• Establishes graduated monetary penalties and extensions of the nighttime restrictions and passenger limitations for non-compliance of the restrictions and limitations.

The Emergency Nurses Association's 2006 Scorecard on state highway laws released late last year ranked Arizona as the last in the country in terms of traffic safety laws, according to Tomi St. Mars, state president of the AMNA.

It's time to place more stringent laws on teen driving. Driving a vehicle should be viewed by teens as a responsibility, rather than a right. It's unfortunate that car accidents are the number one killer of children and teenagers in Arizona. Hopefully, this will be considered as our legislatures review SB 1347.