Alabama House votes to place stiffer restrictions on teen drivers

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April 11, 2008

Anonymous The News Courier Fri Apr 11, 2008, 10:29 AM CDT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama House voted Thursday to put additional restrictions on some teenage drivers.

The bill would require 16-year-old and some 17-year-old drivers to be off the road by 10 p.m. on week nights and 11 p.m. on weekends. It would also prohibit some young drivers from using cell phones and other electronic devices while operating their vehicles.

The bill passed the House 96-0 and now goes to the Senate for debate.

Currently young drivers with less than a year of experience must be off the road by midnight. The bill makes exceptions for drivers going to or from work or church.

The sponsor, Rep. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville, said he proposed the legislation because of concern over the number of recent fatal accidents involving teenagers — including an accident in Blount County in December where a car carrying seven cheerleaders ran off the road, killing four girls. He said Alabama has the second highest rate in the nation when it comes to deaths of teenage drivers.

“Teen drivers account for 15 percent of all highway deaths, but only 6 percent of drivers on the road are teenagers,” Gipson said.

The original graduated drivers’ license bill, sponsored by the late Rep. Jack Hawkins, R-Vestavia Hills, was hotly debated for several years before passing in 2002. House Speaker Seth Hammett said he thought members are now more aware of the dangers teen drivers face.

“I think we have a realization now that we can save the lives of young people,” Hammett said.

Gipson’s proposed legislation would require that drivers with a learner’s permit or with less than a year’s experience have a licensed driver at least 21-years-old in the passenger’s seat. The current law does not set an age limit for the person in the car with the driver.

The bill also says the young driver can only have one passenger in the car with him, except for parents, guardians or family members. Current law allows there to be a total of four people in the car.

Rep. Demetrius Newton, D-Birmingham, praised the bill and said he wished it had been in effect when his son, who is now grown, was a teenager. He said he thought the age of the person in the car with the young driver needed to be older than 21.

“Sometimes 21-year-olds don’t exercise the best judgment,” Newton said.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, expressed concern that some police officers might use the law as an excuse to stop people just because the driver appears to be young.

“I just don’t want there to be random stops based upon appearance alone,” England said.

Gipson said the bill was only meant to be enforced if a vehicle was stopped for a traffic violation, like speeding or running a red light.

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