Statement of Jacqueline Gillan, Vice President
Advocates For Highway And Auto Safety
Passage of Teen Driver Safety Bills
HB242, HB244, HB393, HB394, HB395
By the Maryland House of Delegates
March 17, 2005

Today's actions by the Maryland House of Delegates kick into high gear the effort to protect new teen drivers on Maryland's roads. Too many teens are dying in too many preventable crashes, and passage of these five bills is the first step towards changing that.

These measures will make Maryland's roadway environment safer for all drivers, not just teens.

I am hopeful that the Senate will enact these bills and that the Governor will sign them. If we save even one parent from having to bury their child killed in a crash it will have been worth the effort.

Bills passed today by the Maryland House of Delegates:

HB 393 (Mandel, Bronrott, et al) will prohibit non-related teen passengers during the first 5 months of the 18-month provisional driving period.

HB 394 (Bronrott et al) will prohibit cell phone use while driving by teens with learner's permits and provisional licenses.

HB 395 (Bronrott et al) will increase from 40 hours to 60 hours the number of required adult-supervised driving hours during the learner's permit period. Ten of those hours must be driven during nighttime hours.

HB 242 (The Administration) will increase the learner's permit period from 4 months to 5 months.

HB 244 (The Administration) will increase penalties against teens with provisional licenses who are in violation of the midnight to 5:00am curfew and /or the requirement that all vehicle occupants are buckled up.

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Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is a coalition of consumer, health, safety and insurance companies working together to advance highway and auto safety.