Safe Teen Driving Blog

A proposed law restricting the number of teen passengers a driver under 18 is allowed to transport has been held up in the Florida House Of Representatives. The bill, which would prevent underage drivers from having more than one underage passenger in the car, was originally presented by Representative Kelly Skidmore, a Democrat from Boca Raton. The reasoning behind writing this piece of legislation was to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities due to distractions caused by peers while driving.

Many other states have successfully passed similar bills and have already seen a difference in the numbers of accidents and other statistics related to teen driving and the distraction of additional passengers. Here are some staggering statistics that inspired the Florida legislator to write this legislation:

• 36 states, plus the District of Columbia, have passed graduated licensing laws restricting the number of passengers a teenage driver may transport.
• The accident rate for 16 year old drivers was reduced by 36 percent since state governments began passing these laws.
• In 28 percent of fatal accidents involving 16-year-old drivers, there were at least three passengers in the vehicle.
• In the year 2000, among 13-19 year old vehicle passengers, 63 percent of fatal accidents happened when other teens were behind the wheel.

The law in Florid would only permit drivers under the age of 18 to drive with one passenger under the age of 18, with the exclusion of siblings and their own children. Those who are caught with more passengers in the car would face a $60 fine and 3 points on their license.

Arguments against the bill varied, but the main fight was from the Representatives in the business community. They left as if passing this bill would make carpooling to work by teenage employees difficult. Many argued that excessive amounts of gasoline would be wasted and traffic would increase, as these drivers would have to drive to work in other vehicles. While the points are certainly valid, other legislators feel as if the benefits would outweigh the inconvenience, by keeping more teen drivers alive.

Teach your teen how to become a Safe Driver with the Driver Education Handbook for Parents developed by Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Certified Chief Instructors.

Labels: florida, graduated.license, passenger.limit